Change
by Cake1
Summary: Out of High School, and Chad, Gabriella and Troy go their seperate ways. All end up going through changes, and all have to do some serious adjusting. Troyella and Troy/OMC yup, SLASH. If you like both troyella and slash, please read this.& review.
1. Chapter 1

Troy smiled up to his girlfriend. Time seemed to slow as he gazed up to where Gabriella was sat, next to his best friend Chad. Whooping and cheering, clapping and screaming, the rest of the crowd fought it's way back into Troy's conscious. He blinked, and threw his head back into the game.

He put his friends out of his mind as he turned back to the court. He put his team mates and this important game into the forefront of his mind.

However, he was soon distracted once again. He glanced back up and Gabriella and Chad. He couldn't help but hold a feeling of dismay that Chad was not on the court with him. Sadly, a sprained wrist counted him out of all games for at least two weeks. Stupid baseball injury. Troy was a bit irritated when Chad joined the baseball team. He said nothing, though. He knew it was silly to be jealous on behalf of basketball.

Troy realised that at this rate, he was going to lose his team the game. He turned his attention once again back to the game. This time, however, he managed to keep it there.

-----------

"It was hard watching you from up there, man." Chad said in hushed tones, from the back seat of Troy's car.

"I can bet." Troy said back from the driver's seat, not taking his eyes off the road. "You'll be back on that court before you know it. Maybe you should stop coming to games, and spend some time catching up on homework?" Troy giggled at Chad.

"Maybe." Chad smiled back, before looking down to where Gabriella was asleep, head on his lap.

"We're nearly at Gab's house." Troy advised, prompting Chad to gently wake Gabriella.

Gabriella sat up. Rubbing her eyes, she grabbed her purse. She kissed Chad on the cheek as she climbed out of the car.

"Night baby. You were great tonight." She smiled, leaning in Troy's window.

"Night Gab." Troy smiled back, pouting for the kiss inevitably coming his way. Gabriella obliged, before walking off towards her front door.

"Can you believe it?" Chad said, as he climbed into the front passenger seat next to Troy. "Senior year is nearly over."

"I know." Troy sighed. "How crazy? Only three games left, too."

"I hope my wrist is better for the last game, at least. Can't believe I sprained my wrist on my last baseball game."

Troy smiled sympathetically and let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, you went out with a bang."

"Funny." Chad glared. He leaned back on his seat as Troy made his way to Chad's house.

"Troy?" Chad started, a couple of minutes later. "Where do you think we'll all be in five year's time?"

"Who knows, man. But I do know that in one year's time, all three of us will be living it up at U of A."

Chad smiled and nodded.

"see you Monday." Troy said to Chad as the pulled into his driveway.

"Later." Chad patted Troy on the shoulder and climbed out of the car.

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The next night, Gabriella was snuggled up to Troy on his couch. The movie they were watching ended, and the two sat in silence, just enjoying each other's company.

"Um," Gabriella broke the silence as she sat up. "Troy - I have to tell you something."

"Uh oh." Troy said, inquisitively. He sat up into a less reclined position and nervously looked into his girlfriend's eyes.

"I really don't know how to say this." Gabriella fidgeted and started to bite her nails. "Um… you know there were talent scouts in to see Ryan and Sharpay last month at the musical?"

"Yeah…"

"They called me. I've been having meetings with them and other people and… anyway, uh… I've been offered a record deal."

"Oh my gosh!" Troy gasped. "That's huge! What did you say?"

"I said yes!"

"Wow. This is…" Troy trailed off, and frowned. "Wait, what about college?"

"That's really what I needed to tell you. This is a big opportunity and, well… I just thought maybe I'll start college next year. Or the year after…"

"Gab… are you serious? You're giving up going to college to be a pop singer?"

"Troy!"

"I'm just saying. Showbusiness is such an uncertain world, and you're so intelligent…"

"It's no big deal, Troy." Gabriella started to raise her voice, frowning. "If it doesn't work out I'll start college next year. What is your problem?!" Gabriella jumped to her feet, crossing her arms and pacing the floor.

Troy sighed and also climbed to his feet. He approached Gabriella from behind and put his hands on her arms. He placed his head on her shoulder.

"Gab, honey. I'm sorry, I just want what's best. Anyway… I can't imagine going to college without you."

"Is that what this is about?" Gabriella sighed and turned around to face Troy. "Nothing is gonna change, Troy. I'll still be here. It's not as if we can see each other every day for the rest of our lives, anyway. We have to go our separate ways eventually."

"I guess." Troy sighed, looking at the floor. "I just… can't remember life without you by my side."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy and pulled him close to her.

----------------

Despite Gabriella's reassurance, Troy couldn't get the worry out of his mind. He had an impending feeling of dread about going to college without Gabriella. She was his rock, she was just… always there. When he was with her, he felt like nothing bad could ever happen to him and he was always happy.

He took a breath, and tried to bring himself round. At least he'd have Chad. He was there for him before Gabriella came along. And he'll be there once Gabriella goes her own way.

Troy got into his car, and made his way to Chad's house. As he mindlessly drove down the streets, he searched his mind for sense and reason. This anxiety he felt himself engulfed in was completely out of character. Troy Bolton was the confident, independent, basketball superstar with no fear and no faults. Yet - the thought of having no one constantly by his side terrified him.

As he arrived at Chad's house, he got out of his car and had a quick check of his cell. He had a text message.

"Hope ur ok. Big baby ;) love u. G x"

Troy smiled at Gabriella's text. He typed a sweet, reassuring reply as he walked up to Chad's front door. He knocked as he pressed send.

"Hey man." Chad greeted his friend, who ignored him whilst he stared at the screen of his cell until it confirmed delivered. Chad rolled his eyes, leaned on the door frame and looked at his wrist at an imaginary watch.

"Hey." Troy finally replied, ignoring Chad's display.

Troy entered the Danforth household, greeting Chad's mom as he passed through the kitchen. He grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge whilst Chad got the chips. The two then made their way up to Chad's room.

Troy broke from their idle chit-chat to talk about the matter he so very much wanted to.

"I need to tell you something Gabriella said to me." Troy threw himself on Chad's futon.

"Do I wanna hear this?"

"Just listen. Get this: she's been offered, and accepted, a recording contract. So… she will not be joining us at U of A."

"What? Are you joking?" Chad exclaimed. "But… but it was meant to be the three of us. Three amigos. Three musketeers. And.. So on." Chad frowned and folded his arms.

"Tell me about it." Troy followed suit and also folded his arms. "I guess it will be just the two of us."

A moment's silence followed, leaving both boys uncomfortable. Soon enough, though, Troy had to break the silence.

"Yeah," he nodded, continuing on from nothing. "I told her she's in for a world of uncertainty and that she's intelligent but she insists she's got it all worked out. Like, if pop stardom is a flop she'll start college next year."

"I guess. It's gonna be weird seeing you around without her attached to your hip. Or… wherever."

"Yeah. It's gonna be weird." Troy felt a sudden vulnerability. He didn't want Chad to know how scared and anxious he was about the whole thing.

"Still, man, you gotta branch out sometime. Be your own man. Live your life." Chad said, with a grin.

"Shut up, Chad." Troy laughed back.

---------------

The next week, Troy was starting to ease regarding Gabriella's decision not to go to college. He was the only one, however; her parents and most of the teachers were pretty angry and dismayed.

Chad's wrist was almost healed, but not yet enough for him to play basketball. His baseball team mates were holding a charity game and he was completely bummed he couldn't join in. Instead, Troy and Gabriella accompanied him to watch the game from the bleachers.

After the game, the three had agreed to accompany the team to the diner. After conversing with them at school for a while, Chad seemed to disappear. Troy told the team to go ahead and he'd be along in a while. Gabriella went along with the team, whilst Troy tried to find his best friend.

"Chad?" Troy called, confused, wandering the hallways of the school grounds. As he left the current building and cross the concrete to the next building, he looked out to the baseball field that just an hour ago had been occupied by the game. He stopped in his tracks and rolled his eyes at himself, and nodded. Sure enough, he saw the outline of his curly-haired friend standing on the pitcher's mound.

Troy approached him, quietly at first but then decided he shouldn't spook Chad. He started to veer round so that he was coming towards Chad from the side. Chad looked up and smiled.

"This was the last game that team will ever play." Chad sighed. "And I couldn't be a part of it."

Troy put his hand on Chad's shoulder.

"You were a part of the last game of the season. Anyway, you were here to support your team mates. You were on this field, if not in body, in spirit."

"Whatever." Chad laughed at his friend's sweet speech. "I guess things are just changing a bit faster than I can keep up with." Chad lowered himself to the ground and sat down. Troy joined him.

"Tell me about it."

The boys sat in silence, each thinking of their own situations.

"You know…" Troy nudged Chad. "It won't happen with basketball. I promise. If you're not better for the last game of the season… we'll hold our own charity game. Yeah?"

Chad laughed, and shook his head.

"It is not gonna come to that, man." Chad stood to his feet. "It's a week and a half away. I'll be fine."

"And you're gonna come and watch the game tomorrow?"

"I'll be up there next to Gabs. And maybe next week we can play some one-on-one. Help me get back into my rhythm?"

"You bet."


	2. Chapter 2

Troy sat out on the field and carried on with his homework. Nobody knew he came out here sometimes after school to do work - the air cleared his head and the fresh breeze calmed him. He was writing his ideas down like there was no tomorrow and he smiled to himself as he came to the end of his paper.

He glanced up to the neighbouring football field with the running track surrounding it. He saw the football team happily leave the field - they must've won, he thought to himself. Just as he was packing up his books and about to walk off, he spotted Chad running around the track.

He climbed to his feet and approached. Stopping next to the bleachers, his eyes followed Chad as he circled the field.

When Chad started coming back round to where Troy was stood, for a reason unknown to even Troy, he hid behind the bleachers so that Chad didn't see him. He smiled to himself as he saw Chad pushing himself and his body further and further. Troy knew that the lack of sports would have been killing Chad these past few weeks, so he was hardly surprised to see him doing some kind of sport anyway. That was the good thing about Chad - he'd always find a solution. Troy hung his head, and knew that eventually he'd find a solution to how he was feeling at the moment. Only - he didn't completely understand what that was.

Troy skulked off in the opposite direction again feeling the unknown desire to hide. He felt like he was spying on Chad. He rolled his eyes at himself, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and started a gentle jog home.

----------------

The time had finally come around for the all-important last game of the basketball season. To everyone's delight, Chad's wrist had healed just fine and was able to play.

Troy took a deep breath and ran out onto the court, shortly followed by Chad. The crowd was roaring, but Troy found Gabriella in the crowd in a second. Her small wave and beaming smile filled him with adrenalin and the energy built up inside of him, and he flew into action on the court.

Troy couldn't believe the feeling running through his veins. He was full of electricity, and knowing that Chad was back and completely on form fuelled him further. And just as he shot the winning basket, he felt dizzy to almost the point of blacking out. The sudden roar of the crowd rang in his ears, slow motion and muffled. Troy folded at the waist and put his head between his knees. He clutched his head and tried to realign his brain with reality.

When he stood up straight again, his eyes glanced around the crowd. His eyes focussed in front of him, just in time to see Chad running towards him. As Chad collided with him, the pair almost fell to the ground. Troy's mind was just starting to come to terms with what was happening. He felt Chad's arms around him, followed by someone else's arms around him from behind. After a split second, he knew from the sweet smell and delicate hands, that it must have been Gabriella.

"Dude, we did it!" Chad excitedly shouted in Troy's ear. Troy brought his hand up and ruffled his friend's curls. He brought his other hand on and gently squeezed his girlfriend's arm.

The after-party shortly followed. Troy was never short of people coming up to him and congratulating him, Gabriella linked to him by the arm. The party was an outdoor affair, in Troy's garden. There was a DJ in one corner, and a large buffet of various foods along an opposite wall.

About half an hour into the party, a tall, middle aged man approached Troy.

"Troy Bolton. My name is Frank Weaver. I watched you play today, and I was very impressed. May we please talk in private?"

Troy nodded and followed, leaving behind a confused Gabriella.

"Hey, where's Troy?" Chad asked, approaching Gabriella and putting his arm loosely around her shoulder.

"Some tall man just took him away." Gabriella sighed as she nodded her head towards her boyfriend. Chad frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Huh. Okay, well, I'll be back in a few."

Chad walked off, leaving Gabriella alone once again. She folded her arms and tilted her head to the side as she saw Troy's face turn to one of surprise and joy. The tall man handed him a small card and shook his hand. Troy stood on the spot for a moment, as the tall man walked off. Eventually he started to walk back to Gabriella, seemingly in a daze.

"Troy, are you okay? What did he say?!" Gabriella searched for answers.

"Uh, uh… yeah! You'll never guess…." Troy started excitedly relaying the conversation.

Chad, not too far away, grabbed a mic from the DJ and climbed onto a table. He cleared his throat and switched the mic on.

"…so now I have to tell Chad that I won't be going to U of A with him."

"He's gonna be crushed. Speak of the devil…" Gabriella pointed to behind Troy where Chad was stood.

"Can I have your attention please?!" Chad coyly said down the microphone. Almost everybody turned around to face him.

"Thank you!" He continued, grinning in pride at himself. "I would like to propose a toast. To the East High Wildcats. And to the best final game ever! Guys - that's it. We played our last game, and what a game it was. The game and, in fact, the entire season, and the season before that… wouldn't have been so perfect if it wasn't for every single team member.

"And not just those players on the court. Ryan Evans, our faithful mascot, and the amazing East High cheerleaders, you guys have given us such tremendous support and we couldn't be more grateful. And, of course. Jack Bolton, our inspirational coach. You've pushed us, and encouraged us, and most of all, moulded us into the superstars we are today."

Troy glanced over at his Dad, and chuckled as he could tell he had started to choke up. Every one of Troy's team mates looked extremely sad, Chad knew how to strike a chord with a crowd.

"We, of course, cannot overlook the hard work and dedication of our captain. Our playmaker. Mr Troy Bolton."

Troy's face turned a shocking shade of red as the entire crowd turned round to look at him. He threw a short smile, before glaring up at a grinning Chad.

"Troy… come up here. Give us a speech."

Troy shook his head, before realising that there was no way he was gonna get away with not getting up on "stage". He approached the table, gesturing up to Chad to give him the microphone.

"Hey guys." Troy laughed, clearing his throat. "First of all, I'm not getting up on a table. I don't wanna break my face."

The crowd laughed, while Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"There's not much I can really say that Chad hasn't already said. And all he said, I want to express my agreement. There's been such an amazing chemistry with all the Wildcats, you can't pin down our amazing achievements to one factor, everybody has just given it their all and, I for one, am very proud of everyone involved in this amazing journey.

"I wanna thank my girl, Gabriella, who has kept me on track. I love you baby!" The crowd aww-ed, making Gabriella blush.

"Now, everyone involved in making this a great experience has been mentioned Except one. Chad, co-captain, co-playmaker, co… number one inspiration. I'm not embarrassed to say in front of all these people - I love you man."

Troy stared at the floor as the crowd clapped, and eventually went back to their business. Within seconds, Gabriella was by his side, arm linked in his, stroking his arm. Chad climbed down from the table and stood in front of Troy.

"Sweet." Chad grinned at Troy. Troy looked up from the floor and rolled his eyes. Chad had to say nothing, Troy knew from his expression how moved he was.

"Chad, um…" Troy looked at Gabriella, who unlinked her arm. "Let's go and have a talk."

Troy led Chad away to a quiet corner of the garden. He propped himself against a wall, but quickly stood back up, as he was in no way feeling relaxed enough to take up such a position.

"Chad. A guy came to watch the game today."

"Oh yeah, was that the guy you were talking to earlier?"

"Um, yeah. He's actually a scout. For a new basketball association putting together youth teams, who learn about the industry and get first-hand experience in the professional basketball world, on and off-court. They are in association with NBA so chances of getting work is high…."

"Oh…." Chad said, seemingly starting to realise what Troy was trying to tell him. "You mean like an apprenticeship?"

"Yeah, something like that. Um… well, he…. He asked me to join them this September. So, I…." Troy drifted off and looked at his best friend.

Chad clamped his eyes shut. He felt all the blood rushing to his head and he leaned slightly on the wall next to him.

"You, uh…" Chad said, opening his eyes. "You're dropping out of college. Before it's began."

"I just…" Troy said quietly, also feeling the need to prop himself against the wall. "I'm just exercising my options. This is an amazing opportunity."

"Yeah, yeah it is…" Chad croaked, standing upright on both feet. "Congratulations."

Without warning, Chad suddenly ran for his life. He ran away from the Wildcat party, away from Troy, he just needed to get away.

He couldn't think. At least not about anything but running, and getting away from the thing that was causing him such strange, frightening pain. He finally came to a halt on a bridge over a fast flowing river.

Chad fell to his feet, and hunched himself up against the railings. He knew Troy would be worried, and wondering why his reaction was so drastic. Then again, he himself was wondering that exact same thing.

Chad, recently, was feeling things, thinking things, and doing things, that he could provide no explanation for. And now, this. He searched his brain for some form of reasoning. His rational mind was brought into play as he tried to break it down. How was he feeling?

He felt empty. Yeah, definitely empty. Let down, that's a given. A sense of loss.

Chad thought that maybe what he was feeling now was similar to how Troy felt about Gabriella pulling out of college. They had been friends forever.

They both knew that it was more than a friendship. They had such a bond that neither of them thought could ever be possible. No, not a friendship. It was brotherhood. Chad never got bored of Troy, not once in their fifteen years or so of knowing each other.

And now, his brother who had been there through pre-school, elementary, middle and high school was actually leaving him. He'd spent fifteen years with Troy by his side. It's all he knew. And now he'd be without Troy, and in college. This is when Chad identified a new emotion, fear. He was scared.

It all started to get a bit much for Chad. He poked his legs through the railings, and looked down to the water. His eyes started to well up, and before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face. He started to feel angry with himself now, too. Angry for fleeing the party, angry for being angry at Troy, and angry for crying. The more he told himself that crying wasn't manly, the more upset and angry he got. Finally, he let go and let himself sob his heart out.

Little did Chad know, in years to come, he would look back upon this day as a momentous one. The very day his life started to change.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Please don't forget to review!! I'm from the UK and basketball isn't a big deal here so I had to do a bit of research lol and I winged a lot of it so I hope nothing's too unrealistic!!


	3. Chapter 3

_**One Year Later**_

Chad was relaxing on his bed, reading Sports Illustrated. He'd finished his only class of the day ten minutes before, and rushed back to his dorm room to get in some quiet time before his room mate came back.

He heard a dull thumping coming from the hall, increasing in volume, and rolled his eyes. He threw the magazine on his bed and walked to the fridge. Just as he opened it, the front door simultaneously opened.

"Hi Jake", he called, without turning round. "Hi Jakelle."

"Jakelle, I like it." His room mate's girlfriend, Laura, commented as she walked into the room and threw herself down on Chad's bed, picking up Sport Illustrated, frowning at the cover, and throwing it back down again.

Chad's phone rang, and he took it out of his pocket. He looked at the screen, and smiled.

"Dude, what's shaking?"

"Hey, man. How's it going?"

"Not bad. I've just been invaded by Albuquerque's royal couple. My luck is running out, man. One day I'm gonna walk in on these two rampant rabbits at it."

"Chad," the man at the other end of the phone giggled. "Do you know what a rampant rabbit is?"

"Yes, Troy." Chad sighed. "So you see my problem."

"I feel for you."

"Sooo…." Chad said in a high pitch. "Were you calling me back about this weekend?"

"Yeah, I was. I'm sorry dude, I can't make Saturday, I'll still be here in Cali, but I fly back Saturday night so we can hang on Sunday?"

"Sounds cool. We can catch a game or something." Chad grinned to himself.

"I hope you're joking." Troy sighed with a raised voice. "It's my day off."

"By game, I meant… checkers."

"Oh, yeah, okay, so you find us a checkers game to go to on Sunday. I gotta go dude. I'll call you about Sunday."

"Take care. Tell Gab I said hi."

"Will do."

At the other end, Troy put his phone into his gym bag, and jogged back to the court.

"C'mon guys, hoops!" Troy shouted to his team mates, scattered around the court.

-------------------

On Saturday night, Gabriella sat in her car, looking at her watch. She looked at herself in the rear view mirror, tidied her hair slightly, and touched up her lip gloss. She sighed and threw herself back into her seat. She glanced out of the window and smiled. She had spotted Troy, finally arriving from California.

"Baby!" Gabriella opened the door and shouted out to him.

Troy giggled, and sped up his walking. As much as he wanted to run, it was near impossible with his suitcase trailing behind him and his gym bag thrown across his shoulder. Gabriella folded her arms and giggled.

"Speed it up wildcat!"

"A little help?!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and jogged towards Troy. As she got to him, she made to take his suitcase, but he refused her. Instead, he dropped the gym bag to the floor, stood the suitcase up, and threw his arms around his girlfriend.

"I missed you." Gabriella sighed, almost as if in relief, into Troy's ear.

"I'm back now. And you're gonna have the best birthday ever."

Gabriella felt tingles of excitement in her stomach. Her birthday was in little over a week and she was going crazy with anticipation about what her boyfriend was going to do for her.

In the car on the way back to the couple's apartment they shared, Gabriella tried to focus on the road, but she couldn't help look at Troy, and smile to herself. He'd only been away for two weeks but it felt like a lifetime.

"So how was your trip?"

"It was amazing. I met so many talented players. They taught me a thing or two, that's for sure."

"How's Laurence doing?"

"Much better. He's finally got his footwork down. People like him really benefited from this trip."

"Awesome."

"Hey, I'm meeting Chad tomorrow, you wanna come?" Troy asked, yawning.

"Aw, no. I see him all the time, you guys have your bonding time."

Troy nodded. Gabriella glanced at him, and looked back to the road. When she glanced back about a minute later, he was fast asleep.

----------

Chad buttoned up his jeans and glanced at his clock. Troy was due to pick him up in half an hour. He threw himself down on his bed and sighed. He hadn't seen Troy in over a month and he was looking forward to hanging with his oldest friend.

His mind wandered to the day when Troy told him he wasn't going to college. The day Chad had run off.

_Chad sighed as he walked into school Monday morning. He dreaded seeing Troy - he knew questions would arise that he was not prepared or ready to answer._

_He rolled his eyes as he turned the corner towards his locker. Of course, his locker was right next to Troy's. His stomach twisted repeatedly and a wave of painful dread and nausea flew through his veins as he saw from the end of the corridor, Troy standing at his locker with a few Wildcats, his back facing Chad. _

_Chad hoped, although he knew probably in vain, that he could approach his locker, open it, get his books out and leave, without Troy turning round._

_He quietly approached his locker, and for a split second thought he had a chance._

"_Hey Chad!" Zeke said._

_Chad clamped his eyes shut for a second, and opened them up again. He glanced up at Zeke, and proceeded to stare at his locker as he put his combination in._

"_Hey." he said quietly._

_Troy turned round and looked at his best friend. _

"_Chad, are you okay?" he asked, quietly._

"_Dude, I'm fine." Chad slammed his locker and walked away, not once looking at Troy._

Chad shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't overly keen on reliving those emotions. Still, he was doing great at college without Troy, and Troy was flourishing in basketball. It had all worked out for the best, but still Chad was trying to avoid even thinking about what he felt.

"_Chad." Troy accosted Chad outside his class. _

"_Troy." Chad said, once again staring at the floor._

"_Are we okay? I don't want you to be mad. I hope in time you can understand I have to do what's best for me."_

_Chad sighed and looked up at Troy._

"_I know. It's just…" Chad scratched his arm and shrugged his shoulders. "We've been together all the way so far. It will be weird going to college without you."_

"_I know." Troy nodded and put his hand on Chad's shoulder. "But I'm still gonna be around. We can still hang all the time, dude."_

_Chad nodded and smiled. _

"_C'mon." Troy said, putting his arm around Chad's shoulder. "Hoops."_

_Chad sat up in his bed. He supposed neither of them knew how busy either of them would be. They hardly got to hang anymore. Troy regularly had to go out of state on various "field trips", that combined with Chad's assignments and what not, there was nothing they could do._

_Still, they had the odd days. Like today. And just then, Chad stood up, responding to the knock on the door._

"_Troy." Chad grinned, trying to keep his not-so-manly excitement at bay._

"_Dude!" Troy laughed, and threw his arms around Chad. He patted him on the back and squeezed him slightly._

_The two broke their embrace, and stood awkwardly for a few seconds. _

"_Uh…" Chad started. "You wanna see a movie?"_

"_Awesome." Troy nodded._

_Just as the two left Chad's dorm room, Jake returned, Laura on his arm._

"_Hey guys." Chad smiled. "This is my best bud Troy."_

"_Troy." Laura nodded, removing her arm from Jake's. "We've heard a lot about you." She stood alarmingly close to Troy, who started to feel uncomfortable._

"_Uh oh." Troy laughed nervously. Laura giggled flirtatiously, and stroked Troy's face._

"_Laura you whore. Leave him alone." Chad rolled his eyes and gave a dirty look to Jake. "c'mon, Troy." _

"_Nice to meet you." Troy nodded to Jake and Laura, as Chad pulled him away._

_They climbed into Chad's car, and buckled up. They started general conversation - about how things are for each of them, what movie to see, about the old days._

_At a natural lull in the conversation, Chad hit a red light. He glanced out of the left window._

"_I, uh…" Chad cleared his throat and stared hard outside. "I missed you."_

_Troy smiled to himself, and turned to his friend. His smile grew as he watched Chad fidget and stare out of the window._

"_Green." Troy advised._

_---------------_

_The day before Gabriella's birthday, she met Chad for lunch. The two of them had become reasonably closer over the past year, meeting at least once a week. _

"_So, I'm flying to LA next week for a meeting with the record company." Gabriella said, sipping her milkshake._

"_What?! I'm gonna be a lone wildcat." Chad sighed, screwing up a napkin and throwing it on the table dramatically._

"_I'm only gonna be gone a few days." Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Anyway Troy's still around."_

"_Troy is never around."_

"_Well, anyway, I'm sure you'll survive."_

"_I guess. Anyway… I got you a present!"_

"_Oh Chad! You shouldn't have."_

"_Would have been pretty darn rude if I didn't, though." Chad laughed._

_Chad handed Gabriella a bag, with a box in it. Gabriella had a pang of excitement - being a girl, she recognised a shoe box anywhere._

"_Can I open it now?"_

"_Of course."_

_Gabriella ripped the lid off, and pulled out a beautiful pair of white strappy shoes with pink, jewelled butterfly shaped buckles. Gabriella screamed, mouth wide open with shock._

"_Chad! These are beautiful! Wow. How can a man have such great taste?"_

"_I guess you've trained me well."_

"_Thank you, Chad." Gabriella leaned over the table to give Chad a hug._

"_You're very welcome."_

_Gabriella smiled to herself. She felt even more excited now for tomorrow, and for what Troy had in store for her._

_----------------------_

_Um, is anyone reading this? I'm really excited about this story and have it all planned out. But I have NO reviews - please, if you read this, review and tell me what you think! I don't know either way because I've received no opinions. Soo… PLEASE REVIEW! _

_Oh, and if you are a troyella fan, check out my stories "Six Years" and "Caught in the Rain"._


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriella woke up crazy excited on the morning of her birthday. She opened her eyes to see an empty space next to her. The next thing that hit her was the smell of pancakes coming from downstairs. She grinned to herself, and got out of bed. She made her way downstairs.

Troy was singing along to the radio, which was loudly playing an upbeat tune. Gabriella quietly tiptoed down the stairs and positioned herself behind Troy. She glanced down as Troy danced to the music, shaking his booty.

She wrapped her arms around his waist - her touch making him jump.

"Smells good baby." She giggled in his ear.

"You scared me." He frowned as he turned round. "Happy birthday." His expression softened into a smile and he kissed Gabriella's nose.

"Why thank you." Gabriella said, taking a long breath in, and sighing out contently.

"Why don't you go and get dressed? Be quick, breakfast is nearly ready. Then I've got a long day set out for you…"

----------------

Late that night, Troy and Gabriella were sat on a large picnic blanket, in the park, right on top of a big hill. Trees lay immediately at the foot of the hill, framing the beautiful view that Troy had picked for Gabriella's birthday.

Gabriella rolled her eyes closed, and linked her arm into Troy's. She lay her head on his shoulder and let out a small yawn.

"I've had an amazing day, Troy." Gabriella smiled.

_After breakfast, Troy had taken Gabriella to a nature park for a leisurely stroll. He had then taken her on a hot air balloon ride - much to her surprise and slight fear. She realised Troy had taken her for a walk to work of her breakfast to avoid any disasters. _

_She had enjoyed the balloon ride much more than she expected, though, and had been able to eat lunch at a little café Troy had taken her to. After lunch, Troy took her home._

_Gabriella, inwardly and unconsciously, had felt quite disappointed. She'd had a great day but it was mid-afternoon and already they were returning home. Also, she'd had no present as such. She fought these feelings as it was a bit… "spoilt brat" like._

_On the way home, Troy was silent. He was texting while he was driving and didn't seem like he had the brain power to also make conversation. Gabriella yawned and rubbed her eyes as they approached home._

"_Go ahead, honey." Troy told Gabriella. "Gonna park the truck somewhere out of the sun."_

"_Oh… okay." Gabriella sighed and walked to the front door. She put her key in, and once inside, ascended the stairs._

_She walked slowly, focussing in her mind on the earlier part of the day. She smiled to herself when she brought into the front of her mind some of the lovely things Troy said to her up in the balloon. She put her key in the second door and turned it in the lock._

_As the door creaked open, she was met with a loud roar of noise, which, in the shock, she couldn't currently comprehend, but a few moments later she realised it was the word, "surprise"._

_Wide eyed and mouth open, she looked around at all the familiar faces, old and new. When she finally came round to her senses, she pointed and shook her head in disbelief at Chad, who was grinning inanely. _

"Chad did a great job setting up your party." Troy chuckled to himself.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw him standing there. He didn't let on at all."

"He's a master of deceit."

Troy nudged Gabriella, and she sat up. He reached into the picnic basket he had brought, and pulled out a small, long box. He handed it to her.

She wrinkled her nose and smiled. She opened the box, revealing a white gold butterfly charm bracelet.

"Troy!" She gasped. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." Troy said quietly, with a smile.

"Of course. And it matches…"

"…your shoes, that Chad bought you, I know."

Gabriella grinned at Troy.

"Oh… you guys." Gabriella giggled. "Thank you, Troy. For this and the whole day."

Troy smiled and took her hand in his.

"I want you to know… how much you mean to me…" Troy cleared his throat and fought all the uncomfortable feelings he was forcing upon himself. "You mean the world to me. Even more, if it's possible. I love you to absolute bits."

Gabriella squeezed Troy's hand, and looked down at her lap. She lay her body on his arm and nuzzled her face into his neck.

"I love you." She whispered.

Troy stroked her hair with his free hand, and stared into the distance. It's not that he was lying……. He did love Gabriella. She did mean the world to him. But there was just something about the way he was feeling recently that made him question his relationship with Gabriella.

When the two returned to their apartment, cleared up by Chad, Gabriella took a shower, whilst Troy threw himself on the bed - and rifled through his sock drawer. He pulled out a small box, and sighed as he opened it.

He stared down, frowning, at the white gold engagement ring with diamond encrusted butterfly. He felt at a complete loss as he tucked it back underneath his socks and shut the drawer.

-----------------

"So you didn't do it?"

"Nope. Didn't even take the ring with me."

"Dude, what is up? You guys are meant to be together. Everyone knows it."

"I know, I know. I just couldn't do it."

"Why?"

Troy just shrugged at Chad and folded his arms. Chad thought that he resembled a sulking child.

"Just… doesn't feel right."

---------------------

Chad and Troy took Gabriella to the airport on the day of her LA trip. Gabriella was nervous about flying alone, and going to LA was daunting for her. She hadn't really done very much regarding her music career, to be frank, and now she was doing something.

Troy was getting annoyed that one of the two of them always seemed to be away. It was frustrating for him, and every now and then the anxiety he felt back when she told him she wasn't going to college would rear it's ugly head. Troy, at the moment, couldn't be more confused, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

At the airport, Troy got a phone call from his coach. When he was off in a quiet corner discussing team things, Chad took the opportunity to talk to Gabriella.

"Gabs… Do you think Troy's been acting weird recently?"

"Not really. Why? Do you?"

"Um…" Chad needed to be careful - he could hardly announce that the reason he was asking was because Troy dropped out of proposing to her. He picked his words carefully. "He seems…. Vague."

"Vague?"

"Yeah. Although in some ways he's been acting weird for a long while."

"I still think he's a bit upset about the fact the three of us didn't end up at college together. I don't think he deals with change very well and he might just only be coming round to it."

"I suppose. I was upset too though."

"Don't sweat it, Chad. Deep down, he's a fragile soul." Gabriella broke a small grin. "Please don't tell him I said that."

"Done."

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Remember to review, you guys! ;) and if you're bored have a look at some of my other stories.

Thank to everyone who reviewed after my pathetic plea, and to rhea heath, I have rated this fic M for the future, because of the direction I intend to take, and it's just easier to me to write without worrying about the rating I've given it.

Hope you guys are enjoying. I'm feeling at a bit of a loss on how to get this story to where I want it but I'll persevere…. x


	5. Chapter 5

The next few months passed without event. Gabriella came back from LA, nothing really coming from her trip and meeting with her record company.

Chad returned after the summer to college, and all in all, life felt kind of dull. But, the second week in November, everything seemed to happen all at once.

Jake's grades had been slipping since the 2nd year of college started, and in November, he was forced to drop out. Chad was sad for Jake and at the loss of his roommate, and friend, but was thrilled to have a room to himself.

Troy had a huge opportunity coming up - he was trying out for the NBA development league, a minor league organization. If he was successful, he'd be a huge step closer to playing in NBA.

At almost the same time, after next to nothing happening with her music career, Gabriella's record company decided it was time for her to record her album and release a single.

Chad watched his two best friends' careers blossom, as he trudged through college. He felt like he was falling behind because he was the one who decided to go to college - how did that work?!

Still, if he had to be at college, bored and with no friends, at least he got to chill in his own dorm. As much as he enjoyed living with Jake, he'd rather live on his own any day.

"So how's your album coming?" Chad asked Gabriella as they ate lunch together.

"Oh, really good. It should be done by Christmas. I'm so excited! Finally things are happening."

"Could say the same for Troy."

"It's crazy. Everyone is sure he's gonna get it too."

"He's good enough for the D-league, that's for sure."

--------------

Troy used his napkin to wipe his forehead of the sweat. He was so nervous. He twisted the napkin in between his fingers and started to rip it into shreds.

"Troy, eat your burger. You can't go to your try-outs on an empty stomach."

"Dad, I can't eat. I'm too nervous. This is so big."

"I know. But try not to be nervous. Put the try-out out of your mind and think about the next bit - you playing in the D-league, being the star… and being nervous for your NBA try-out."

"You're right, Dad. Just gotta take it in my stride."

"That's my boy. Unleash your inner Wildcat."

Troy grinned and hi-fived his Dad. He picked up his burger and took a huge bite.

Three hours later, Troy clenched his eyes shut.

_Unleash your inner Wildcat._

Troy blocked out all noise and focussed solely on the image his Dad had created in his mind - trying out for NBA. He doubted right now that he was good enough.

Troy shook his head. He stared out at the court. He put himself in the mindset that he was trying out for NBA. Now. He was good enough. And he would go out and play like a pro. Like the pro he was trying to be.

--------------------

"How did it go?"

"Not too bad, dude." Troy said down the phone to Chad, as he tucked into a burger.

"He did amazing." Troy's Dad shouted to Chad down the phone.

Troy laughed, and hid a slight blush.

"It's all about a positive frame of mind."

"Whatever." Chad laughed. "Listen, I gotta go. Say hi to Gab for me."

"See ya, man."

Troy hung up the phone and looked at his Dad. He shook his head and laughed.

"You're a shoe-in, Troy. I'm proud of you." Troy's Dad nodded at him.

"Thanks Dad."

--------------------------------

"…but my Dad thinks I did amazingly." Troy laughed. "It did go well. But, you know my Dad."

"But I bet he's right." Gabriella smiled and ran her fingers over Troy's chest.

Troy grinned and leaned into Gabriella, giving her a loving kiss.

"Look at the rain." Gabriella said quietly. "Glad I'm inside, all warm and snug."

"Yeah." Troy smiled. He leaned back on the couch and sighed.

Gabriella ran a fingertip over Troy's stubbled jaw. Troy broke a grin and glanced down at her. She kissed him on the cheek, then the jaw, and tracing the line her finger was following. Her lips followed her finger onto his lips, and stayed there.

Her hands cupped Troy's cheeks, and squeezed them. She ran her right hand slowly down to his shoulders, and down his chest. She reached his waist, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and pulled it up and over Troy's head.

Gabriella broke from the kiss and looked into Troy's eyes.

"Well, Mr Bolton." She smiled, eyes full of desire. "You've had a stressful day. I think it's time for some relaxation."

"What exactly did you have in mind, Miss Montez?"

Gabriella grinned, and squeezed Troy's thighs. She ran her finger over his manhood through his jeans. Troy squirmed. Gabriella laughed.

"C'mon Wildcat, show me how manly you can really be."

Troy grinned and pushed himself up against Gabriella's body. She lay back on the couch and Troy crashed his lips against hers.

"You know…" Troy said, breaking the kiss. "I don't think this couch can handle what I have in store for you."

Gabriella's eyes widened and she grinned. Troy pulled himself off of Gabriella and took her hand. He pulled her off the couch, and led her up to their bedroom.

Gabriella threw herself onto their king-size bed. Troy slowly closed the door, and stood at the foot of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked him.

"Just wanted to look at you." Troy grinned. Gabriella sat up.

"Well, I'll give you something to look at."

Gabriella reached down to the bottom of her dress, and pulled it all the way up, over her head. She could feel Troy's eyes looking her, up and down. She soon found him on top of her, placing kisses on her neck, and running his fingertips over her ribs. They trailed up to her back, where Troy proceeded to unhook Gabriella's bra. He pulled the garment off of her body.

He ran his palms over her breasts. These breasts which, by now, he knew pretty well. He grazed his fingertips lightly over her nipples, causing her to squirm below him.

"Troy." Gabriella smiled, with a contented sigh. She closed her eyes and licked her lips. She brought her hands up to his back, and dug her nails in.

Troy carried on, but mentally he came to a halt. This scenario lacked something, something important. He just hoped Gabriella hadn't noticed…

He dotted kisses down from her neck, down her chest, and meeting his fingertips. Troy's tongue ran in circular motions around the nipple, before lips meeting in a kiss. His lips continued down Gabriella's body, until he reached panties.

He hooked his index fingers either side, and pulled her panties down. He returned to Gabriella's face. She had opened her eyes, and she grinned at him.

"Well this isn't fair."

Gabriella reached down to Troy's belt. she unbuckled it, and undid the button on his jeans. She unzipped and moved her hands to the small of Troy's back. She slid her hands down, onto his butt, underneath his jeans and boxers, and slid them off in one quick motion.

Gabriella sat up, making Troy sit back onto his heels. She suddenly delivered a strong push, causing Troy to fall back flat onto the bed. He smiled as Gabriella straddled him.

"Is everything okay, Troy?"

"Perfect."

"It's just…" Gabriella blushed slightly. "You're not…"

"I, um… I know. I can't explain it." Troy blushed profusely.

"Don't worry, baby." Gabriella smiled, and started to grind against Troy's hips, inches away from the problemed manhood. "I guess I'll just have to try harder."

Troy smiled. His girlfriend was always so understanding. And he could definitely feel this hip-grinding doing some good. He cupped her breasts, and massaged them. Gabriella threw her head back and let out a moan. Nothing, Troy thought. He sighed, and removed his hands and placed them on his eyes, and let out a frustrated sigh. He ran his hands into his hair.

Gabriella looked down at him and frowned.

"Baby…"

"It's no use Gabs."

Gabriella climbed off of Troy and lay herself down next to him.

"Gabs I'm so sorry."

"Troy, that's okay. You don't need to be sorry. These things happen all the time in relationships."

"Yeah right."

"Troy. Of course they do. Especially considering the stress you've been under today."

Troy sighed, and managed to smile. He kissed Gabriella on the nose.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Troy."

-----------------------------

The next day, Troy couldn't stop thinking about his embarrassing ordeal. Even when he met up with Chad, it wouldn't budge from his mind. He glanced at his best friend of almost his entire life, and, even though he was afraid it was a bad idea, opened his mouth to say something.

"Uh… Chad?"

"Yeah."

"Best friends…" Troy coughed awkwardly. "can tell each other anything, right?"

"Sure." Chad said, glancing at Troy. He frowned with slight disgusted worry at what Troy might be talking about.

"Last night, me and Gabs got, a little, you know, frisky."

"Yes, yes, carry on." Chad said, shaking his head.

"Well… Have you ever… not been able to…"

"Troy just say it."

"Have you ever not been able to… get it up?"

Chad raised an eyebrow, and observed Troy turning a deep shade of red.

"Once. Or twice. But only when I've been so wasted I can't even stand up let alone get anyone else to stand up."

"Oh. Well… I'm not sure whether or not that helps."

"You still love her, right?"

"Of course I do, how can you even ask that?!" Troy raised his voice a little, wide eyed.

"Well…" Chad said, starting to wish he hadn't said anything. "You didn't propose, you can't get it up, you've been acting pretty strange for a while now…"

"Ugh. I know. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Don't read too much into this whole thing. You just had a big try-out. You've been under stress."

"That's what she said."

"There you go then." Chad nodded.

Troy put his head in his hands.

"you're right though…" Troy sighed. "Things have been weird for a while. A long while. In theory we're the perfect couple, like a fairytale… but something doesn't feel right."

---------------------------------

It's getting there! It's gonna get good. I hope you're enjoying this story. Don't forget to review ;) Story alert, that kinda thing. But yeah, let me know your thoughts. I'm just glad I finally found a way to get this story to where I want it to be and I'm quite excited about it. Hope you guys are too :D x


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter is quite a bit longer than the others, due to an M rated scene that I got a bit carried away with. So, sorry, but I am sure those M-rated fans among you will love it, lol. There's a lot of general storyline progress in this, too. Enjoy. X

-------------------------

Troy had a stressful day, about a week later. A few days ago, an intimate night with Gabriella had gone well, but last night his problem had returned.

Gabriella had been so loving and supportive through this issue, to which Troy was immensely grateful. The two of them sat down and talked through the first time it happened, they talked through yesterday, and the other day when Troy hadn't had any problems.

They decided that maybe the difference was that the other day, Troy had played in a friendly game, plenty of energy but no stress. So, here he was, sitting courtside, about to play in another friendly, with the comforting image of Gabriella sitting at home waiting for him. He laughed to himself.

However, he had an added stressor - he was expecting a phone call about his D-league tryout today. He wasn't expecting this to play a factor, though, as he'd know either way by the time he went back to Gabriella.

Just then, Troy's team mate, Gary walked past with his girlfriend, Jen.

"Troy!" Gary waved over to Troy and Troy smiled back.

"What's up, Gary."

Gary and Jen walked over to where Troy was sitting, and instinctively out of politeness, Troy stood up.

"Jen, how's it going?" Troy flashed a smile at the girl, who giggled back.

"Oh hey, there's coach, back in a sec." Gary ran off suddenly, leaving Troy with Jen.

The pair sat down on the bench, and an awkward silence followed. If there was one thing Troy hated, it was awkward silences.

"So…" He started. "How are things with you guys?"

"Going well." Jen nodded. "Things will get complicated if he gets into D-League though. I don't get to come down here from LA much and if he's in D-League he won't have time to come and see me."

"Ouch. Mixed blessing if he gets it, huh."

Jen nodded and took a deep breath. She stared at the ceiling, and Troy took this as a sign to stop talking about it.

"So how are you and…" Jen bit her lip and wrinkled her brow, searching her brain for a name.

"Gabriella."

"Sorry. How are you and Gabriella doing?"

Troy obviously wasn't prepared to tell her the truth.

"Things are good. That's the good thing about basketball I suppose, there's no real relocation necessary. But Gabriella's recording her album at the moment. If she makes it big, I guess I won't see her a whole lot."

"It's hard to go your separate ways."

Troy nodded.

"It's great when I come and see Gary though. I don't wanna gross you out, but it's certainly passionate when we reunite."

Troy laughed.

"I forget how buff he is sometimes when I've not seen him for a while." Jen added with a grin.

"Ha ha, yeah he's a big guy." Troy nodded, looking over to Gary.

Troy couldn't help but admire Gary's body. His shoulders were huge and he was ripped from head to toe. Troy himself was probably the shortest guy on the team and wasn't very muscled. He felt tiny next to Gary.

"I just love it when he takes me in his big, strong arms and makes me feel safe." Jen sighed and watched her boyfriend return from talking to his coach.

Troy grinned to himself as he also watched Gary return. His heart pounded and caused an unusual pain as he admired Gary's arms, on show due to his basketball jersey. This was followed by a very surprising feeling inside Troy.

What was that?

Troy remembered that feeling from when he first met Gabriella. The first time he glanced at her on that karaoke stage. When he watched her walk away just after the clock struck twelve. The first time he saw her in East High.

The first time he kissed her, touched her… okay, now he was freaking out a little bit. What he had just felt was - wrong. He put it to the back of his mind when he realised he needed to get on the court. He ran on and left all his issues off the court.

The first thing he did when the game ended was check his phone. Still no news from D-League. They said they'd call before 4. It was now 3.45 - was this good or bad?!

And just then, he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. His heart jumped into his throat and his whole body started to shake. He took a breath and answered the phone.

-----------------

Gabriella had just finished drying herself after taking a bath, when she heard the familiar sound of Troy's car pulling up outside. She threw on her small robe and went downstairs.

A minute later, she heard his key in the lock. She leaned herself against the wall just in front of the door and placed a hand on her hip.

A downtrodden looking Troy came through the door and dully pushed the door shut. He threw his keys down on the shelf and looked at Gabriella.

"So, they called."

Gabriella didn't move. She dropped the smile from her face and just stared at Troy.

"And I got it!" Before Gabriella could process these words, Troy had swept her off her feet and picked her up in a tight embrace. She wrapped her legs round his waist and squealed into his ear.

"Congratulations Wildcat!"

Troy held Gabriella with his left arm and moved his right hand onto her thigh. He ran his hand all the way up and raised his eyebrows.

"Miss Montez! Are you naked under this flimsy robe?"

Gabriella moved her head out from where it was nuzzled in Troy's neck. She looked at her boyfriend.

"I might be."

"That helps." Troy grinned as he gently pulled her off him. He placed her against the wall and untied her robe. Gabriella pulled down Troy's baggy jeans, falling to the floor in one slight tug. Gabriella glanced down at Troy's boxers.

"Someone's definitely out of hibernation."

Troy put his hand round Gabriella's waist and pushed his body against hers. She felt his manhood poke her just below her belly button. She smiled.

"You know it." Troy laughed, with a slight groan.

"He's mine."

Gabriella reached down between their bodies, and tucked her index finger behind the waistband of Troy's boxers. She pulled them down over his erection, and pushed them down slightly. She looked into Troy's eyes. She saw a man, full of excitement, energy, and passion. He looked back and saw a pleased, aroused young lady, full of love.

Gabriella pressed her body back against Troy's, and lifted up her left leg. Troy held onto it, and she repeated with her right leg. He moved his hands to her bottom, lifting her up and lowering her down, entering her and causing her to gasp.

"I love you Troy."

--------------------------

The next morning, Gabriella awoke to see Troy still fast asleep next to her. She smiled to herself and stroked his face with the tip of her finger. He stirred.

"Morning baby." Gabriella beamed to him. He grinned back.

"Hi darling."

"I bet you're on top of the world, this morning. You got into D-League and you got your mojo back. All in one day."

"Yeah." Troy stretched and yawned. "Pretty great, huh."

Later on that morning, he was in the locker room with his team mates. Unsurprisingly, he was avoiding talking to Gary, or even seeing him if he could help it.

"So." Coach said, silencing the team. "We all wanna know, which of you got D-League."

Silence followed.

"None of you? That's funny, I know a couple of you who were sure fire for it…"

Troy shrugged to himself. He slowly put his hand up. Two hands slowly went up after his. Troy glanced at Gary - his hand was up.

"Congratulations, men. We will surely be sad to see you leave us. But we hope to carry on to shape other young men to be the outstanding players that you three are. In fact, that all of you guys are. And I know, for the rest of you, your times will come."

The team gave the coach a small round of applause.

Troy approached his locker and located his basketball jersey. He pulled his shirt over his head, and just for the few moments he couldn't see, someone approached him. He jumped when he removed his shirt and realised it was Gary.

"Congratulations Bolton. We're off to D-League."

"Congratulations dude. It's gonna be awesome. And I knew Saunders would get in, too."

"Yeah, Tim's a good 'un. And the dude's like 9ft tall."

Troy laughed, and pulled his jersey down over his head.

"Last friendly before our last big game."

"Let's go." Troy said to Gary. Troy let out a deep breath as he watched Gary walk off and felt something he was trying desperately to ignore.

After the game, Troy set off for home. He didn't shower before he left. He didn't dare step foot in the showers whilst everyone else was in there. He felt like being in the seclusion of his own home with his best girl.

When he got home, Gabriella was waiting for him. She was in the kitchen, making him some lunch. In sexy lingerie.

"Hey baby." She raised her eyebrows seductively as Troy walked in the door.

"Woah. You look… good."

"I made you a late lunch." She grinned.

Troy looked at the plate, at the chicken she had fried, and chopped it up onto some salad.

"Yummy." Troy loved Gabriella's fried chicken. He kissed her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Don't expect it again though." Gabriella said as Troy looked up. "Chicken spits." She pouted as she rubbed her torso.

Troy laughed, nearly spitting out his mouthful of food. Gabriella narrowed her eyes at him. She sat at the table, a little way from Troy. She put her feet up on the table, revealing to Troy her black stilettos. He looked at her shoes, and ran his eyes down her legs. He smiled and shook his head.

"You're so bad. Can't even eat lunch in peace."

"Well, I feel like a lonely housewife at the moment. I have nothing to do around here while you're away… except for think of you… especially after last night…" She brought one leg back down to the floor, and left the other leg on the table. She opened her legs as far as she could.

"Seriously, Gab…." Troy smiled. "You go to the effort to make me lunch then you don't want me to eat it."

"Oh well, if you walk away from my delicious lunch, these legs are closing."

"Oh, I see. You're being a dirty tease."

"I'm helping you. To improve your stamina." Gabriella grinned, barely being able to stop herself from laughing.

"I wonder about your stamina, though." Troy raised his eyebrows.

Gabriella leaned forward, and folded her arms, causing her breasts to heave against her bra.

"It's taking all my stamina not to pounce on you right now." Gabriella growled in a low, moany tone. "I want you so bad." She lowered further into a whisper.

Troy stopped eating his lunch and focussed his attention on her. She licked her lips and sat back again. He went back to eating his salad, and picked up the paper next to him and started to read it.

Gabriella frowned. He didn't seem at all bothered by her teasing. She had to step it up a notch, she told herself.

Troy stared at the words on the paper. He read about 4 words before he realised he couldn't. He stared at the paper and could see Gabriella out the corner of his eye. He grinned to himself. He knew him ignoring her advances would be killing her.

"See, I'm not even sure I can wait for you to finish…" Gabriella told Troy. "But you MUST finish. I just… I can't wait…"

Troy glanced over, and could barely believe that he just saw Gabriella slide her hand into her panties. Gabriella let out a moan, and threw her head back, as Troy stared at the movement inside the panties. Gabriella's free hand moved to a breast, and started to massage it. She snapped her head back into position and looked straight into Troy's eyes. She grinned as she could tell she was producing the effect she wanted. She licked her lips and grinned at him.

Troy was torn. He wanted to be stubborn, and not give into her. But he didn't want her to actually have to do it all by herself.

The next thing Gabriella knew, Troy was standing in between her legs, his hand halting the movement of her hand. He had a grip on her wrist. He pulled her hand out of her panties.

"I think you'll find…" Troy said, smugly. "I'll be responsible for any orgasms in this house."

"Um, what about your own?"

"Yeah. Oh, well, um… shhh."

Gabriella giggled.

Troy got on his knees, and placed his hands on Gabriella's thighs. She let out a moan in anticipation. He moved his face up close to the damp material.

"Troy…" Gabriella breathed, almost involuntarily.

Troy rubbed the tip of his nose against Gabriella. She moaned and bucked her hips. Troy's tongue extended, and he grazed right at the top of her inner thigh. He brought his tongue in, and kissed the same area.

"Troy…!" Gabriella squealed. "Please…" Gabriella moaned and pleaded, and realised this was payback.

Troy brought a finger up, and grazed it along the damp material.

"Wow." Troy said in a low voice. "You're a little moist."

Troy stood up, showing Gabriella definite evidence that he was aroused. He put his hands under her butt, and picked her up. He pulled her close. He then took her seat, with her straddling him. He ran his fingertips over her covered nipples. She let out another moan.

"Troy, please, I need you, so bad…" She started to grind her hips, his manhood poking her very place which needed stimulation. She kissed his neck and ran her nails over his chest. Troy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He very gently squeezed Gabriella's breasts, making her moan once again.

"Get up." Troy told Gabriella. She shook her head.

"Wha…. I can't."

"You can't?"

"My legs…" She whimpered. "They're like jelly."

"Well that won't do. I guess I'll have to carry you."

Once again, Troy placed his hands on Gabriella's butt. He stood up, taking her with him. She wrapped her legs firmly around his waist, linking her ankles together behind Troy.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Troy I need you."

"I'm afraid that particular longing isn't going to happen."

"Huh?" Gabriella whimpered still, completely dumfounded by the hormones flowing round her body.

"Well yeah it would be good but think about how quick it would be. This isn't over yet."

Gabriella gave up trying to work out what he was on about. She pressed her lips against his neck and ran her tongue up his neck, and into his ear.

When Troy came to a halt, Gabriella could just about gather that she'd been taken upstairs. Oh, she thought, thinks makes sense. She realised she was in their bedroom, and Troy was throwing her down on the bed.

He pressed his body against hers, and met her lips in a fierce kiss. He then kissed down, down her face, chin, neck. He reached the valley in between her breasts. He ran his tongue up and down, and much to Gabriella's delight, reached behind her and unhooked the bra. He tossed it aside, and immediately took a hard nipple in his mouth. He ran his tongue around, and gently sucked. Gabriella let out a yelp.

"Troy!"

Troy grinned up at her and his lips carried on their journey. Down her ribs, belly button, lower abdomen. Gabriella was now letting out small moans, in anticipation.

"I dunno." Troy said, hooking his fingers in her panties. "You're just so bad. Should I really…"

"Troy!" Gabriella screamed out, moaning still.

Troy grinned and pulled her panties down her legs. He threw them across the room, and spread Gabriella's legs. He put them on his shoulders.

He felt Gabriella start to shake.

"Do it, Troy, do it, please, do it."

Troy raised his eyebrows, and Gabriella let out a tiny squeal, and put her hand in between her legs.

"What did I tell you?" Troy grinned, removing her hand. He shook his head and he lowered his head.

Gabriella screamed, and let out a loud moan as Troy's tongue finally met the source of Gabriella's tension. Gabriella moaned louder and louder, with each flick of Troy's tongue.

"Troy…"

"Gabriella…." Troy said, deeply and slowly. Gabriella screamed, the vibrations of Troy's voice stimulating her even further.

It wasn't long, a few seconds even, before Gabriella felt herself rapidly reaching her climax. She ran her fingers into Troy's hair, and grasped tightly. She started to moan louder, until she was practically screaming.

Troy felt Gabriella's entire body tremble, and quickened his pace to bring her, screaming, over the edge. As her limbs curled up, he carried on, until she fell, weak, flat onto the bed.

Troy sat back, and looked at his girlfriend. She was sweaty, limp, and had a glazed over look on her face. He grinned to himself. He stood up, and made his way to the door, to get some much-needed water.

"Where you goin?"

"Get some water."

"What about you?"

Gabriella sat up slightly, the best she could manage, and pointed vaguely in the direction of his boxers.

"Making you suffer, and beg, that was enough for me." Troy grinned.

So, he lied. But all that mattered, to him anyway, was that he'd pleased Gabriella. And boy, had he pleased her.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey you guys! Well… I know you all have opinions on the last chapter. LOL. And if you wanna stop reading, it's all good. Although I suppose you would have already stopped. Anyway, if you don't mind the apparent theme, and you are a Troyella fan, do keep reading because in spite of the last chapter there will be a lot of sweet Troyella moments coming up. Those of you who do continue reading I hope I can do this idea of mine some justice.

I don't mean to go on, but… I won't be updating for… at least a week. Probably. I'm just about to go on holiday (Friday, NYC!) If I am inspired and finish another chapter before I go, I'll post it, but that's unlikely. I'm gonna try and write some on the plane if I can so I should have some good stuff for you when I get back. In the meantime - Enjoy!

-------------------------

The day finally arrived - Troy's last day with his team mates, before he left for D-League. Today was a big game for the team, and even though Troy was leaving, he still vowed to himself to give it his all.

The team were sat in the locker room, just before the game, and Troy was clasping his hands and staring at the floor. He was trying desperately to forget the confusion haunting his life at the moment. He needed to focus on the game, and he was finding it difficult.

"Last game." Gary sat down next to Troy, making his entire body tense up.

"Hey man."

"How did your girl take the news, then?"

Troy grinned to himself, and tried to hide his blush.

"Uh… yeah she took it well."

"Ha ha, oh I get it."

Troy laughed.

"Yeah, uh… we had a fun night, that night." Troy felt even more tense. "So um, how did Jen take it?"

"Uh… well she was happy for me. But really, she's not taking it all that well. I won't get to see her very much."

"Yeah. That's gotta suck. For the both of you."

"Yeah it does. It's worse for her though. I think she thinks I'm gonna turn into some kind of player, off the court as well as on the court."

"Ah. The paranoia."

"Yup. Anyway, she's bummed that she can't even make it today. Is your girl here?"

"Yup. She's up there with my best friend who skived college."

Gary laughed, and walked off, giving Troy a nod. He took a breath, and followed Gary out of the locker room. He could hear the roar of the crowd already.

----------------------

After the game, the team assembled, all together for the last time, in the locker room.

"Listen up, guys." Coach started, silencing the team. "Well played, men. As if they ever had a chance, huh?" A mumble of general agreement came from the team. "Troy, Gary, Tim. We're all sad to say goodbye, but we wish you all the luck in the world. You're about to have the time of your lives, and I hope you will continue to support each other."

The team loudly murmured an agreement and then clapped.

"Wait, you guys. Why don't you head on over to the diner. Rumour has it, someone's throwing a party for you."

------------------

Gabriella pressed her lips against Troy's when he finally got to the diner.

"So proud, baby! That was awesome."

"It was, man." Chad grinned. "Now I know why D-League wanted you."

Troy laughed and put his arms around his friend and girlfriend.

"It's the end of an era." Troy sighed. "Well, maybe not quite. But it's certainly the start of one."

He led them over to where the team were crowded round. Gary turned around to look at Troy.

"Hey, man." He said, smiling at Troy, as well as Gabriella and Chad.

"Oh, hey Gary." Troy cleared his throat, and folded his arms. "This is my best friend Chad. And you've met Gabriella."

"Of course." Gary smiled at her, and took her hand. He softly kissed her knuckle, causing her to giggle.

He turned to Chad and held his hand out. Chad extended his hand and the two shook.

"Good to meet you." Chad smiled and nodded.

"You too. You play basketball, Chad?"

"Yeah, not so much since high school. I play a lot of baseball too."

"Chad and I were co-captain Wildcats in high school." Troy told Gary.

"Maybe you should have been joining D-League too." Gary told Chad.

"Ah, well. I'm the loser who ended up at college." Chad rolled his eyes and laughed. "I think I'm better at baseball anyway. So I'll see where that takes me."

"All the best, man."

"You too. I'll be at your games when I can."

Gary nodded to the three of them, and left to talk to another team member.

"Can't believe this is it." Troy told Gabriella and Chad. "I'm going to D-League!"

-----------------------

A few weeks later, Troy, Gary and their new team mates jogged off of the court after practise. Troy felt slightly overwhelmed - actually playing in D-League was amazing, he was playing the next level down from NBA. The joy and surrealism of that, mixed with his secret, confusing emotions regarding Gary, were starting to get to Troy and he didn't quite know what to do with himself.

Over the past few weeks, Troy was still avoiding confronting the strange emotions. And in fact, he was avoiding all situations in which these emotions could come to light.

However, today was a different matter. Troy had been avoiding showering, and so far nobody had noticed but it was only a matter of time, and, after joining a new team and meeting lots of new people, Troy certainly didn't want to get a reputation for being unclean.

Troy was first in the shower, and first out. He breathed a sigh of relief when he got back into the locker room, he threw himself down on a bench and ran his fingers through his wet hair. He bolted up straight when he saw Gary walk in.

"I ache like a bitch." Gary sighed with a laugh. He sat down opposite Troy.

"Tough, isn't it." Troy laughed. "They sure work hard here."

Troy looked over at Gary, sitting opposite him in just a towel, and ruffling his wet hair. Troy glanced away, but as his eyes flickered back to Gary, he started to realise there might be no point fighting this compulsive viewing.

---------------

Troy sat at home, alone. Gabriella was at an important meeting with her record company. Troy thought about calling Chad, but with Gary in the forefront of his mind, and his constant struggle to work out his feelings, his curiosity got the better of him.

He went into his and Gabriella's bedroom, and switched on their laptop. He connected to the internet and went to Google.

He didn't really know what to type in. He blushed as he even thought about his feelings. He didn't know what it was, he didn't know how to put it into words, which really didn't help. He thought about what he'd call this if he'd had similar feelings for a woman, instead of a man.

Troy took a huge intake of breath and started typing into the search engine. He felt uncomfortable - this was the first thing he'd done to even start to admit the feelings to himself. Until now, everything he was thinking and feeling stayed locked in his mind.

Troy looked at the words he had typed. "crush on another man". He hit search and scanned the results.

The first few results seemed to be married women talking about their extra-marital crushes. Troy frowned, until he came across Urban Dictionary.

He clicked the link, realising as he did, the need to erase the history afterwards. He shook his head at himself as he read the first definition for the phrase "man crush".

"When a straight man has a "crush" on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him."

"Huh." Troy said to himself. He would love to believe this was what he was experiencing. He couldn't help but think that maybe his feelings were… a little more intense than this definition was suggesting. However, the more he read up on this "man crush" phenomenon, the more he was drawn to believe he was merely experiencing some kind of extreme admiration for his team mate. The guy was an awesome basketball player, and as he'd discussed with Gary's girlfriend, he had a great body. That had to be it, just a man crush on Gary. It's not as if he wanted to kiss Gary. Or do anything else of that nature with him. Woah, he said to himself, that's a scary thought.

--------------

Now that Troy had defined himself, and felt like he finally knew what was going on, he relaxed a lot around Gary. He was a lot happier, and everybody around him had noticed.

He didn't even feel the need to try and stop himself from looking at Gary. Sure, he felt the need to be discreet. It was still a little weird that he stared at him all the time, but, to Troy himself, it was no longer scary. So he indulged himself. Loads of guys go through this at some point in their lives. Right?

It was the next week, and Gabriella was at yet another meeting. Troy was at home, watching a game on the TV. Chad was round, and returned from the kitchen with a bag of chips.

"Dude, that's like our fourth bag." Troy burped, and chuckled. "I'm gonna get fat. They'll bounce me round the court."

"C'mon, at least exercising is your job." Chad threw himself down on the couch next to Troy. "Hey. You'll never guess who I saw the other day."

"Who?"

"Sharpay. I'd forgotten just how "fabulous" she really was until I saw her again."

"Ha ha! Seriously?"

"You know when a celebrity walks down the street, they're so preened and glamorous looking, that you know instantly they are famous before you even recognise them."

Troy widened his eyes and frowned. He shook his head.

"Um. No."

"Oh. Well, anyway. It was like that - there she was, strutting along the sidewalk, huge sunglasses, tiny dog, expensive clothes…. And everyone just stopped and stared." Chad nodded, smirking to himself. "Only… she ain't famous. Nobody knew who she was."

Troy smirked too, and shook his head.

"Did you speak to her?"

"Yeah. She's home from Julliard for Christmas break. I asked her how it was going - she was a bit vague. Ryan's back too, I might give him a call. Would be good to see him again."

Troy nodded, but was distracted and deep in thought. Ryan was gay. Really gay, Troy thought to himself, as opposed to the odd man crush. Troy sighed and rolled his eyes at himself, his best friend completely oblivious.

Troy was nudged out of his thoughts by a strange noise coming from the window. He frowned at Chad, and approached the window.

He noticed Gabriella's car outside, and Gabriella getting out, bouncing on the spot like she needed the bathroom.

"It's Gab…" Troy said, slightly suspicious of the strange noise, and the bouncing.

Troy waited at the front door. When Gabriella came in, her excited gaze completely missed Troy, propped up against the wall. Her eyes darted up the stairs.

"Troy!" Gabriella screamed at the top of her voice. "TROY!"

"Hello?!" Troy waved his arms around. Gabriella burst into hysterical laughter, shaking her head at herself. "What the hell is up with you?!" Troy laughed.

"I'm releasing a song! A single! I'm gonna make a video! A VIDEO! I'M RELEASING A SINGLE!"

Troy raised his eyebrows. He widened his eyes and a grin spread across his face. Chad was now standing behind him, grinning at hearing the commotion.

"Baby, that's SO awesome!" Troy wrapped his arms tightly around his girlfriend and pulled her close.

"Congrats." Chad grinned.

"I'm gonna be famous!" Gabriella screamed.

Chad snorted to himself.

"That would be awesome." Chad said, half to himself. "If you became famous before Sharpay."

"Sharpay?" Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah." Troy rolled his eyes. "Chad bumped into her today."

Gabriella grinned to herself, also quite amused by the prospect.

"Things are finally moving for you, so happy for you baby." Troy smiled and held her close.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello you lot! Managed to write quite a bit, instead of packing, ha ha, so I've got another chapter for you and I've got another one finished that I'll post as soon as I get back on Wednesday.

Well, I see some (err, all) of you don't like my twist! I do hope someone's enjoying it though cos I'm really enjoying writing it, and there's so much stuff coming up that should be interesting. Love, friendship, lies, deceit, fame, things like that. Anyway, I'm off and away, don't forget to review, please say something unique………..! Bye! X

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Troy sat on the bench, watching his team mates play his favourite game. He, today, was assigned a kind of coaching role. He was to observe the game and make any comments he had.

He couldn't really concentrate. He had resorted to doing what he had been doing an awful lot lately - watching Gary. He sighed heavily as Gary stole the ball, gripping it tightly, flexing his muscles. Troy shook his head. This really wasn't good. But at the same time, giving into the temptation to look felt really good.

"Any observations?" Coach asked Troy as he sat down next to him.

Troy commented to himself in his head that maybe Gary could play with his shirt off. He smirked to himself, but shook his head.

"Nah, everyone seems on form today."

"Yeah." Coach satisfactorily nodded in agreement.

"Hm. Josh's footwork there. He seemed to stumble a bit."

"Good observation."

Coach got up and approached the sidelines for a closer look.

"Troy." Coach beckoned him to the sidelines, and Troy joined him.

"What do you think of Gary? You two came from the Bourke Program together, right?"

"Yeah, we played together. I think he's an amazing player. I knew he'd fit in here."

"He's doing well so far. Although, so are you."

"Why thank you, Coach."

"Keep an eye on Gary, see if you have any suggestions for him."

Troy obeyed, and kept his eyes firmly on Gary. As if there was any other option.

------------

After the game, Troy was sat in the locker room, about to read a text message he'd just received. As he flipped open his phone, Gary walked in, wet from the shower, towel wrapped round waist.

"Hey, man." Troy said, smiling only into Gary's eyes. He dared not look right now.

"Hey! How was coach coaching?" Gary laughed.

"It was actually quite awesome."

As Gary turned around to face his locker, Troy let his eyes wander over his chiselled, wet back. He frowned to himself, disapproving of the thoughts uncontrollably running through his mind. Thoughts that he kept trying to tell himself he wasn't having. He shook his head, and looked down at his phone.

"Hey man. Meeting Ryan in an hr. Come if you're not busy. The diner."

Troy unconsciously mumbled to himself.

"Hmm, I don't know." He mumbled and hit reply, his thumb hovering over the buttons, unsure what to reply with.

"What was that?" Gary asked, turning round.

"What? Oh! Sorry. Thinking out loud."

-----------------------------------

An hour later, Troy arrived at the diner. Ryan was an old friend, of course he wanted to see him. Just because he was gay, didn't mean anything. He felt worried though - weren't gay men supposed to have some sort of radar? What if Ryan knew he was having 'thoughts' about men? Well, that was just silly. How could he possibly? Troy wondered several more irrational scenarios before finally entering the diner.

"Hey you guys."

"Troy!" Chad and Ryan almost simultaneously cheered.

Half an hour later, the three were laughing and joking like they hadn't been apart.

"Yeah, Julliard is certainly doing something to Shar. It was very hard for her at first - remember how she reacted when Gabriella came on the scene, singing, dancing, threatening. Shar was not used to having someone else talented to compete with. Now think of that but with hundreds more girls."

"Ouch." Chad laughed.

"She is adjusting though. She's had to get used to not being the centre of attention, and not being the only talented one."

Troy studied Ryan. He actually felt a pang of jealousy - Ryan had himself all figured out, he'd never have to go through what Troy was going through. Because he knew he liked boys, that's it. Troy still didn't know what was going on in his own mind and heart, which really scared him.

Chad, still laughing, focussed his eyes on the screen of his vibrating cell phone. He stopped laughing, pouting slightly, and turned away to answer the phone.

"Hey Mom." Troy heard Chad quietly say into the phone. He grinned to himself.

After a few more minutes of mumbling down the phone, Chad hung up and turned back to his friends.

"I gotta go. I forgot I promised to take my sister to see Santa." Chad rolled his eyes. "Ryan, man, it's been good. All the best. And keep in touch, man."

Chad patted Ryan on the shoulder, and expressed a similar gesture to Troy. He exited the diner quickly.

"So how are things? Chad told me you're in D-League!"

"Yeah, it's amazing. I can't believe it, it's like a dream."

"And what's this about Gabriella releasing a single?"

Troy nodded, and smiled.

"But man, how are things with you? Seems like you know everything about me."

Ryan grinned.

"Things are good." Ryan smiled.

"You enjoying Julliard?"

"Yeah!" Ryan's happy smile morphed itself into a smirk. "Plenty of gays to choose from."

Troy snorted, and coughed. He finally managed the laugh he'd choked on.

"Yeah I can imagine."

"Maybe you made the right choice, not going. They'd have ripped you to shreds."

Troy smiled, slightly uneasy.

"Ryan…"

Ryan looked up. He frowned when his eyes met Troy's confused, pained expression.

"Can I ask you something?" Troy slowly asked, slightly hesitant.

"Sure." Ryan nodded.

"I mean, this has to stay between us." Troy quickly stated.

"Of course, what's up?"

"Um…" Troy now realised he wasn't sure what to ask. "Will you tell me the story of when you realised you were gay?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows, pursed his lips, and nodded.

"Sure. Well, I mean, I always knew. In a way. There was no revelation. I guess I must have been…. About twelve when I first had a crush on a guy. As I said, I think I just always knew so I didn't surprise myself. I never took an interest in girls in that way. I just kind of accepted it, because I was so young, I hadn't really discovered much about myself."

Troy nodded.

"Is that the way it is for all gay guys?"

"No." Ryan shook his head. "No, some go through years and years of torment, married with kids, the whole lot. It's different for everyone."

Troy sighed. This wasn't really helping. He clenched his eyes shut. As much as he didn't want to reveal the reasons behind him asking, he had to ask something that would provoke something more helpful.

"How do they… know? I mean, some guys get crushes on other guys, but it doesn't mean they're gay, right?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows, and shook his head in neither a disagreement nor an agreement. Troy frowned.

"I… guess. I wouldn't…well, let's reverse it… I suppose you could kind of say I've had a crush on a girl. A pretty girl, funny, smart, talented. She had an amazing body, too. But I didn't wanna kiss her, or do anything sexual with her. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to touch her. But, I dunno. Not like the way I wanna touch a man. It's hard to explain." Ryan shook his head.

Troy frowned deeply and stared at the table. That helped a little bit. But there it was again, the one vital difference. As much as Troy tried to fight it, he felt a little like he wanted to kiss Gary.

Ryan noticed Troy's troubled expression.

"Troy?" he said softly.

"Huh?"

"If there's something…" Ryan searched his mind for the words. "You know you can talk to me."

Troy glanced in Ryan's direction. He wasn't too sure he was ready to talk about it.

"You can trust me." Ryan smiled. "Think about it. I know hardly any of your friends, and I hardly ever see you so it won't be awkward." Ryan smirked to himself. "But you know me well enough to trust me. I hope."

"I know." Troy reassuringly smiled at Ryan. "I just…" He couldn't even bring himself to say that he couldn't bring himself to talk about it. "It's hard."

"Close your eyes." Ryan told him.

"What?!"

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Yeah but… I can't bring myself to…." Troy sighed.

"Close your eyes. Trust me?"

Troy eyed his friend suspiciously, but closed his eyes anyway. Ryan moved in closer to Troy.

"Just relax, Troy." Ryan said softly. "Are you comfortable?"

Now, Troy was certain that in this situation there was no way he could be comfortable. He tried anyway. He folded his arms over his chest. He nodded.

"Okay. Just nod or shake your head, okay." Ryan still spoke softly. "Have you been having some problems?"

Troy nodded.

"Okay. Are you feeling like you don't know yourself?"

Troy shrugged, frowning. Ryan sighed.

"Are you maybe having some feelings that you don't understand?"

Troy screwed his face up as much as he possibly could. He let out a huge sigh, and gave a very small nod. He brought his hands up to his face.

"Was that so hard?" Ryan smiled.

"Argh, yes." Troy grunted, still covering his face. "Feels like it will go away if I never dignify it with talking about it out loud."

"But you know it won't." Ryan softly smiled. Troy took his hands off his face, but still not looking at Ryan.

"I guess."

"Do you wanna tell me the story now?"

Troy hesitated. Well, he'd got this far. And if anyone was gonna help him figure this out, Ryan was probably his best bet. He certainly was never going to figure it out alone. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth.

"Okay." Troy screwed his face up again.

He told Ryan about feeling distant and troubled for no apparent reason. About his problems with Gabriella in the bedroom. He told him about Gary and how he feels strange things that he remembers from when he first met Gabriella.

Ryan listened intently. Troy was surprised at how at ease he felt around Ryan. He was right, he knew he could trust him.

"And so one day, I looked on the internet." He was met by Ryan with raised eyebrows. "And I found the phrase 'man crush'. And I figured it must be that." Troy nodded, partly to himself, and looked at Ryan as if that concluded his speech.

"Troy…" Ryan smiled softly. "If that was the end of the story, would you be talking to me?"

Troy looked down at his fingers which were entwining themselves around each other.

"Well…" Troy held his hands out either side of him. "I guess I wanna know… in your opinion…."

Troy looked out the window at something imaginary.

"Where is the line. What is the defining boundary between having a man crush, or something, and…" Troy cleared his throat. "And being gay."

Ryan unintentionally let out a little laugh. He smiled reassuringly when Troy shot him a paranoid look.

"Troy, I doubt you're gay." Ryan propped his chin on his hand. "It's natural for people to wonder, and even to experiment. It doesn't necessarily make them gay."

Troy stared into space. He wasn't sure what to think and his mind was just as muddled as before, if not even more.

"Okay, close your eyes." Ryan sighed when he noticed Troy's expression.

Troy sighed and shook his head. He closed his eyes.

"Picture Gary in your head." Ryan noticed Troy unconsciously fidget slightly. "Now… picture Gabriella."

Troy sighed. He didn't understand what was going on. He felt like he didn't understand anything anymore. He was even starting to think Ryan was going mad.

"Open your eyes."

Ryan looked into Troy's eyes. He looked tired. Not physically, but it was almost like his soul was tired.

"For the record," Ryan grinned. "I'm not a therapist."

Troy rolled his eyes.

"Listen." Ryan's expression formed a more serious tone. "I doubt you're gay, Troy. But try and forget all labels. Forget gay, straight, man, woman. So, you have a crush on someone else, it happens in all relationships. Try not to let it cause you problems, man. I'm sure you'll get over it. But any developments, let me know. As your therapist, I have to know." Ryan grinned.

"Ryan, I kind of understand where you're coming from. But I find it difficult to just accept that I'm feeling attracted to another man."

Ryan frowned.

"Okay, when you say 'attracted' to, what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, I…" Troy frowned, and folded his arms. He closed his eyes of his own accord.

"When I'm around him, I can't help but watch him. His strong arms make me feel… like… I want to be cuddled. He's taller than me and when I see him, it feels like I want him to wrap himself around me. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah."

"When he laughs, and smiles, I want to stroke his face, and kiss his lips."

"Troy, do you feel turned on? Like, aroused?"

Troy frowned worriedly.

"I… I don't know. I… guess so."

Troy opened his eyes, and looked directly into Ryan's.

"Ryan."

"Troy, it's okay. I know it's difficult. It's just a part of growing up, I promise. Self-discovery."

"But what if… what if I am, what am I supposed to do? What about Gabriella?"

"Troy, please, try not to stress. Look, being gay doesn't make me an expert on all things gay. I can't tell you whether or not you are gay. That's something you're gonna have to discover for yourself. But I can tell you being gay is not the end of the world."

-------------------------------------------

That night, Troy was even more confused and muddled than ever. He was sat at home with Gabriella, and was completely distracted. He felt like bursting into tears every minute of the day.

Troy tried to focus on the movie him and Gabriella were watching. Gabriella snuggled up next to him, linking her arm in his, and laying her head on his shoulder. She placed a hand on his thigh.

"Baby, are you okay? You seem a little distracted."

"Sorry. I was just thinking about work. Coaching was so awesome, keep thinking of things I could suggest."

Gabriella smiled, satisfied with his answer. Troy sighed to himself at the amount of lying he'd done to her recently.

The hand that was currently on Troy's thigh, started to move. Gabriella was slightly massaging Troy, and he really didn't know how he felt about that. She tipped her head up and started to peck light kisses on his neck, and moving to his jaw line.

This was probably the last thing Troy needed right now. But he could hardly refuse her. He loved her and didn't want to hurt her, besides, he'd let her down enough recently.

Surprisingly enough, he wasn't really feeling very turned on by Gabriella's attempts. Her hand had moved up, and she was now massaging near enough that her thumb was grazing his manhood.

He thought back to his problem. Why couldn't he just get turned on by Gabriella, why did men have to come into it?

He thought of Gary, and silently cursed him. Despite this, he DID feel a little turned on at the thought of Gary.

Troy gritted his teeth. He decided to try the unthinkable. He closed his eyes. He paid attention to the small, delicate fingers squeezing his thigh. He imagined those fingers were bigger and thicker. To Troy's slight dismay, his tactic was working.

Gabriella sat up, and straddled Troy. Troy imagined big, muscular thighs straddling him. Gabriella thrust her lips against Troys, Troy grabbing her face and imagining stubble underneath his fingertips. He ran his fingers down her back, and grabbed the bottom hem of her sweatshirt. He pulled it up over her head, tossing it aside, and placing his hands back on her back. Troy was glad Gabriella had on no bra to play with.

Troy couldn't believe this was working. He felt really quiet bad. And dirty. He made a mental note to call Ryan to see what he thinks. All that Troy knew, was that he was finding it increasingly difficult to find himself aroused by his female partner.


	9. Chapter 9

Troy sat with his head down between his legs. He clutched onto his hair. He groaned in frustration. He wasn't managing Ryan's advice at all - he couldn't pretend like there were no labels, all he could think about was that G word. It screamed in his head when he thought of Gary. It screamed in his head when he saw Gary. Was he? Was he really gay?

He straightened himself up and threw his head against the wall behind him. He folded his arms and sighed. He was at a total loss. What was he supposed to do?! There was no solution at all.

He picked up his phone and spun it between his fingers. There was only one thing for it.

He flipped open his phone and flicked through his phonebook, and pressed call.

"Hello?"

"Ryan? It's Troy. I'm going crazy here, man. Can you talk?"

"Oh…" Some background noise followed. "Wait here."

Troy heard the phone being put down on something. Lots of mumbling followed and the sound of a door closing.

"Sorry. Back. Yeah I can talk."

"Are you sure it's not a bad time?"

"No, no, it's fine. Was just hanging out with a friend. You need my help more." Ryan giggled slightly.

"Thanks."

Troy updated Ryan with the latest.

"I don't know what to tell ya." Ryan sighed. "But it's good you're not repressing, Troy. If you let it out, let it flourish, it will take its course and eventually lead you to the truth."

"I… guess." Troy sighed. "But my sexual feelings for Gabriella just seem to be depleting."

"Let it happen, Troy. Fighting it will help no one."

Troy screwed up his face. He knew Ryan was right but he really didn't want to just let it happen.

"But what if it turns out I'm…."

"Then I'll be here for you."

"But what about…"

"Gabriella will understand. But stop jumping to conclusions."

-------------

Troy was hanging out with Chad, distracted by Ryan's words. Last time they'd spoken, Ryan had told Troy he doubted he was gay. But this time… Troy shook his head. He was getting used to this feeling of complete helplessness and confusion.

Chad laughed at the movie the two of them were watching. Troy glanced at him. How would Chad feel, knowing he was sitting next to someone who had such thoughts?

Chad glanced at Troy.

"What's up, dude?" Chad frowned. "You look worried."

Troy found himself looking at Chad's lips. They were so plump. Troy widened his eyes. Okay, now he was going crazy. Chad, of all people. Troy folded his arms and slightly pouted.

"What are you sulking about?!" Chad exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Nothing." Troy sighed. "Let's just watch the movie."

Chad narrowed his eyes. He paused the movie.

"Tell me what's up."

" No, no. No."

"Tell me. C'mon, I'm your best friend. You can talk to me."

"Well…" Troy glanced at Chad. "Things are a little strange with me and Gabriella."

"In what way?"

"I, um…" Troy thought to himself. "I feel like… she doesn't turn me on anymore. I almost have to force myself to… well, you know."

"Oh." Chad frowned. "You guys have been together for a long time. Things are likely to get dull. You just need to spice things up a bit."

Troy wasn't convinced. He obviously had missed out the vital part - that he wasn't not only turned on by Gabriella, but females in general. He sniffed to himself, and rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you look so miserable."

"I am. I don't know what's going on in my head."

Chad put his hand on Troy's knee, making him jump.

"Try not to worry."

The rush of electricity rushing through his veins at the touch of a man worried him more than anything. Once again, it was a feeling he hadn't felt since he met Gabriella. How could those very real feelings just go away? He very much used to be attracted to females. How did this happen?!

It didn't help that this was Chad. His best friend for 15+ years. Troy wanted to scream.

------------------------------

The next week, the Albuquerque Thunderbirds were playing their first away game. Troy was looking forward to getting away for a couple of days, it would save him having to fake to Gabriella. But at the same time… Gary would be there.

Their first game was probably the furthest it could have been from Albuquerque, up in Pennsylvania. Troy wasn't a big fan of flying, so he wasn't exactly looking forward to the journey. Still, it ended up that he was seated next to Gary, so it wasn't all bad.

Once he boarded and sat down, he took a deep breath. Take off was the worst. He looked out the window onto the tarmac. He jumped slightly when he felt a weight just left of him.

"Hey man. How are you doing? I hear you're not so good with flying."

"Gary, dude. I'm okay. Just feel a little uneasy."

Gary put his elbow on the armrest, resting his arm next to Troy's. Troy tried to breathe out the electricity shooting through his body. He glanced at Gary.

"You'll be okay, man." Gary smiled. "You can squeeze me if you need to." Gary laughed, waving his arm. "I won't tell anyone." He winked and smiled.

Troy laughed nervously. He threw his head back and took another huge breath. He let out a vague whimper as the plane pushed back.

"Just think of your girl!" Gary said. "Keep your mind occupied on distracting matters."

Troy looked at Gary, who raised his eyebrows comically. Troy shook his head and let out a slight laugh.

The plane started to move forwards. Troy clenched his eyes shut for a moment, and opened them back up.

"Here we go." He said nervously. "I'm okay…"

"I was serious, you know." Gary whispered, and held out his hand to Troy. Troy looked at Gary for a moment, and put his hand into Gary's.

As the plane sped up, Troy squeezed Gary's hand.

"Dude, just take deep breaths. It's all good."

Troy actually felt soothed. He felt completely grateful to Gary for the support, and told himself he'd found a great friend there. What a shame he had practically ruined the friendship before it begun.

Troy took another deep breath and turned his head towards Gary.

"Hmmm. I feel a lot better. Thanks Gary."

"Anytime. We all get scared sometimes. It's our secret."

The two smiled at each other, until Troy self-consciously looked away. He withdrew his hand and entwined it with his other.

--------------------

After the game, which, by the way, the Thunderbirds won, Troy came to a decision on a small idea he'd been thinking about on the flight.

He told coach he'd make his own way back to Albuquerque. He made his way to the train station, and boarded a train heading for NYC.

He wasn't completely sure why he was on his way to see Ryan. But he needed to be with someone who could at least vaguely relate to what he was going through. Well, Ryan was the only one who even knew. Troy felt almost like he might explode if he didn't talk about it, and talk about it soon.

After a long, agonizing train journey, Troy finally arrived in New York. It was late afternoon, so he assumed Ryan would have finished classes. He flipped his phone open and found Ryan's number on his dialled calls list.

"Ryan Evans speaking!"

"Uh, hey Ry. It's Troy."

"Oh, Troy, hey! How're you doing?"

"I'm fine. Are you busy?"

"No." Ryan said, with audible noise in the background. "I can talk if you need to."

"Well, uh…" Troy cleared his throat. "I'm here. In Manhattan."

"Oh! Where?"

"Actually I'm right outside Juilliard."

"I'll be right there."

Ryan hung up the phone, and Troy frowned. How random, he thought. He looked around him and took everything in. He'd never been to NYC before. He made a mental note to bring Gabriella here. If their relationship survived, of course.

Before he knew it, he felt arms wrap round his shoulders from behind.

"Bolton, what are you doing here?"

Troy turned round and smiled at Ryan.

"Hey. Well, I was playing a game up in Erie. So I thought I'd pay you a visit." Troy looked around, and put his hands in his pockets, shrugging his shoulders. "And, anything to delay going home."

"I take it things aren't getting better for you."

"Dude, I ended up sitting next to Gary on the plane up. I'm a nervous flyer and he held my hand through take off. He actually held my hand. It helped at the time, but…"

Ryan raised his eyebrows.

"Well… do you feel any closer to an answer?"

Ryan tilted his head, and started to walk away from Troy. Troy followed, as Ryan led him onto the Juilliard campus. Troy looked around in awe. It was certainly the type of place Troy wouldn't often find himself at.

"I just remembered what you said about me going to Juilliard." Troy mumbled to Ryan, as a couple of guys dancing in the halls watched him walk past.

Ryan let out a loud laugh, then immediately gave Troy an apologetic look.

"You're a hot jock, what do you expect?"

Troy pouted and crossed his arms. He was relieved when they finally reached Ryan's dorm room.

"Don't worry, Troy. My room mate is straight." Ryan said, letting himself and Troy into the room. "So, how did it feel to walk down the hall of gay?"

Troy shook his head and chuckled. He sat down next to Ryan on his bed.

"Um, I don't really know. It was a little scary, being stared at."

"Well, as long as you know that not all gay men are like that."

"Perverts?"

"No!" Ryan laughed. "I mean like.. Us at Juilliard. Flamboyant. Camp."

"You're not camp."

"I am flamboyant." Ryan laughed. "You know what I mean. There are macho gays. Like you."

Troy looked up and widened his eyes.

"No!" Ryan said quickly. "I meant, macho like you."

Troy let out a small smile, and sighed.

"I need to sort myself out, Ry. I don't even know myself anymore."

Ryan nodded, and put his arm around Troy. Troy at first stiffened, but Ryan squeezed him slightly and he let himself relax. He lay his head on Ryan's shoulder.

"It's not easy. You have to let nature take it's course."

"Thanks, Ry." Troy whispered.

"That's okay. How does it feel to be comforted by a man, huh? Strange?"

"Yeah, a bit. But good. You're a really good friend." Troy smiled to himself.

"And you're sweet when you're vulnerable."

"Vulnerable?!" Troy laughed and sat up. "Don't even think of taking advantage, Evans."

Ryan laughed.

"Don't worry yourself."

Troy rubbed his face and sighed.

"I know I've just gotta see what happens. But it's really hard. It's driving me nuts already. No ideas?"

"Well…" Ryan said, staring at the ceiling. "You could always try just admitting it."

"What? But you said…"

"Hear me out. The more you think about it, the more you're gonna want the answer to be that you're straight. But if you work off the assumption that you are gay, then you'll know if it feels right or not. Because you're not gonna become gay by admitting it if you're not." Ryan frowned worriedly at Troy. "Does that make sense?"

Troy looked extremely freaked out, but was thoughtful.

"Yeah I guess I kinda see what you mean. I don't really understand how you think it will work."

"It's just something to consider. I could help you."

"Like how?" Troy narrowed his eyes at Ryan.

"Close your eyes."

Troy looked at Ryan. He'd had enough of this for one day. For one lifetime. But he was willing to try anything to end it. So he closed his eyes.

"Repeat after me." Ryan said, taking a breath. "My name is Troy Bolton, and I am gay."

Troy took deep breath in, feeling his breath tremble.

"My name… I can't do it, Ry." Troy opened his eyes and fought back the tears that were starting to form. "It's just…. A really difficult thing to say. Especially as it might not be true."

"You can do it Troy." Ryan nodded and smiled to Troy. Troy took a deep breath.

"Let me try again." He closed his eyes. "My name is Troy Bolton." He opened his eyes and looked at Ryan for reassurance. He nodded his head. "And…" He kept his gaze on Ryan.

"And I am gay."

Ryan put his hand on Troy's shoulder, as the tears started to fall.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I actually really missed writing this while I was away. Should've taken my laptop and I'd have loads of updates for you! Never mind. I'm eager to start writing again so it shouldn't be too long. Though I'm not sure anyone is keen on seeing how the story develops LOL.x


	10. Chapter 10

"My name is Troy Bolton." Troy whispered. "And I am gay."

Troy stared at himself in the mirror. He blushed. He looked away but looked straight back.

"I am gay. Am I?" Troy shook his head. He reminded himself of what Ryan had said. "Yes. I am gay."

He stared into his own eyes in the mirror. He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"Gay boy." He glared, and his face broke into an evil grin. He unfolded his arms and his face dropped back into neutral. He glanced at himself once again in the mirror, and left the bathroom.

"Hey baby." Gabriella said, changing the sheets on the bed, without looking at him.

"Hey…" Troy said, wide-eyed. He ushered his hands into his jeans pockets. "I thought you were downstairs making dinner."

"It's cooking, calm down." She giggled. "I thought I'd utilize my time."

"Good." Troy smiled, and walked over and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too, baby." Gabriella smiled, with slight confusion. "Oh, I meant to ask you. Would you be able to get next Thursday and Friday off?"

"Um…" Troy looked up and narrowed his eyes. "I think so, we don't have a game. Why?"

Gabriella screwed up her face and flashed a huge grin.

"My video shoot."

"Oh my gosh! That's awesome! I would love to be there!" Troy grinned and kissed her once again on the cheek. "Where is it?"

"Nevada."

Troy screwed his face up and rubbed his scalp.

"In Las Vegas? Bit tacky, isn't it?"

Gabriella grinned and rolled her eyes.

"No, Troy. In the desert."

"There's desert in New Mexico."

"Oh be quiet!" Gabriella rolled her eyes and gave him a gentle shove.

-----------------------

Troy was trying to get into character. He was sat in the window of Starbucks sipping on a Mocha - he didn't even know what it was, but he quite liked it. He watched a man, about the age of himself, walk past the window. Troy looked him up and down, and inwardly shrugged. His head turned as he watched him walk through the door.

The guy stopped at the end of the line, and rubbed his hands together. He loosened the stripy scarf around his neck, and ruffled his dark, spiky hair. He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets.

Troy turned back round and propped his head on the palm of his hand, elbow on table. He pouted and sighed. He got an urge he was getting used to - the urge to ring Ryan and talk about his feelings. But he fought it - Ryan didn't really deserve to have to dedicate his life to sorting out Troy's problems. He was gonna have to take control of his own life eventually.

Troy was jerked out of his daze when he noticed the cute guy from the line sit down on the next table, facing him. Troy smiled to himself when the guy opened up Sports Illustrated and started to read.

Troy ran his hand through the hair on the back of his head. At the back of his mind, thoughts were forming, and trying to seep their way through to his conscious mind. Thoughts telling him to stop ogling and retain what he had left of his heterosexuality. But Troy fought them, he owed it to himself and Ryan to continue the plan. Anyway, ogling was fun - and it was a relief to stop fighting his instincts. However, ultimately, he was starting to see where this plan was going and he wasn't too happy about it.

He watched as the guy sipped on his coffee. A muffled clattering came from the bar area and the guy looked up. Troy quickly glanced away and out the window. When he glanced back at the guy out the corner of his eye, he found himself being stared back at.

Troy's body went into slight panic mode. His throat closed up, he felt dizzy and his palms got extremely sweaty. He wrung his hands together and stared nervously out the window. He could slightly see the cute guy's reflection in the window, and Troy froze completely when he saw the guy getting up and walking towards him.

"Excuse me?" A voice said from beside Troy. Troy tried to relax, and looked up.

"Hi."

"Can I ask you something?" The guy smiled. Troy gulped, and nodded. The guy sat down at Troy's table. "Are you… Troy Bolton?"

Troy raised his eyebrows. He wasn't sure what was going on but he was a bit scared.

"Yeah…" Troy frowned.

"I thought so." The guy smiled. He ran his hand through his hair. "I've seen you play, you're awesome."

"Oh, really?!" Troy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"I'm Jack." The cute guy said, holding his hand out. Troy shook Jack's hand and smiled.

"Nice to meet you. Actually, that's my Dad's name. He coached my team in High School."

"Oh, awesome. He's gotta be a talented guy then." Jack smiled and tilted his head to the side.

Troy smiled back, and nodded. He looked at Jack, still smiling, playing with his hair. Erm, Troy thought to himself, is this dude flirting? Troy told himself not to be so silly. Of course he wasn't. It must've been wishful thinking. But wait, did Troy want him to be flirting? Here it goes again - he confusion and indecisiveness that had recently been haunting him.

Troy decided he didn't care either way. Sure this guy was attractive, but he didn't even know if he was gay. He'd be way too scared to do anything if this guy was flirting.

"I'm sorry." Jack said, shyly looking out the window. "I shouldn't have come over and invaded on your personal time. But I had to tell you I think you're an amazing player. You're gonna go far."

"Thanks, man, that really means a lot! I've literally only just joined the Thunderbirds though, I've got far to go. And I really appreciate you coming and talking to me."

"Oh," Jack smiled, playing with his hair again. "Good. And I'm telling you, you'll be in the NBA in no time." Jack looked down at Troy's mug. "Do you want another?" He asked, pointing.

Troy nodded. Okay, this guy was either a strange obsessive fan, or he was definitely flirting. Troy couldn't decide which he'd prefer.

"Mocha?" Jack grinned, picking up Troy's cup and wafting it under his nose.

"Yeah." Troy grinned back. "Thanks."

Jack winked and left Troy, sitting feeling very confused. He couldn't resist any longer - he pulled his phone out and opened a new message.

"how do I tell if a guy is flirting with me?! Or even gay?!"

He glanced over his shoulder nervously, and sent the message to Ryan. About twenty seconds later, a reply came through.

"gay - u know its not that simple! N everyone flirts differently. Try n think of when u flirt with girls. Or when they flirt with u. call me later I wanna hear all. Ry x"

Troy quickly put his phone away when he heard Jack coming back. Well, he knew girls played with their hair when they were flirting. But knowing that is what caused him to wonder in the first place. And buying him a drink was pretty standard. Troy picked up his new mocha and sipped.

"Thanks, man. So, you a big basketball fan?" Troy asked Jack.

"Yeah." Jack grinned. "I used to play it myself in High School, a few years back. I wasn't very good though, I got clumsy." Jack laughed. "And you know how High School is. I, uh… had other things to worry about, so basketball faded away. I always wanted to be in D-League though. I guess I go to matches to try and re-connect to the person I used to be."

"Man, I'm sorry. You know what they say though. Practise makes perfect. If you still love the game that much, don't give up."

"Aw, It's okay. I'm a writer now, and I love it too. So it doesn't haunt me or anything."

Troy shrugged.

"That's good. Basketball's all I really have." He sighed. He then frowned. "Well, actually I play golf too." He nodded, and once again frowned. "I, um…" he put his head down, in case he blushed. "I sing too."

"You sing? Wow." Jack grinned. "I didn't expect that."

"Yeah, um," Troy laughed, "It didn't go down too well with the guys when they first found out."

"I can imagine. Bet you got called gay and all sorts."

Troy looked up.

"Um, no not really. We had a gay guy in our class, and his twin sister was popular… and scary. So no one dare ridicule anyone for being gay. I did get the odd comment about him and me though."

"Coming out in High School must've been hard for him."

"He's one of those guys who has always known he was gay. And I guess so did everyone else, so everyone grew up knowing him how he was. It's done him no harm, he's one of the happiest guys I know."

"Some people are lucky." Jack nodded. "I, um… I came out in High School. What a horrible experience."

Ah ha! Troy now knew Jack was gay. This increased the chances he was flirting by how many percent? Troy didn't care, he wasn't at school. But he now decided he cared about this flirting nonsense.

"I'm sorry, dude. High School kids can be vicious. How'd your parents take it?"

"My Mom told me she'd kind of guessed. Which annoyed me a bit! But my Dad… it took a while to sink in."

"That's gotta be tough." Troy frowned and thought of his own parents.

"You know…" Jack smiled. "It's nice that…" He paused for thought. "You're not freaking out. Sports fans and homo-friendly don't tend to go together."

Troy nodded thoughtfully. Jack was right, and didn't he know it. Most people who surrounded him in life were people whose life was basketball. Notable exception being Gabriella. His girlfriend.

"Well, I must admit…" Troy said, smiling, and running a hand through his hair. "I did wonder."

"Oh… really?" Jack said, almost blushing, but not quite. "How come?"

Troy cringed at himself, and played with a clump of hair.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but… I thought I noticed you flirting with me."

Jack's eyes widened. His mouth moved but no words came out. He had turned viciously red.

"I'm sorry!" He said, slightly squeaky. "I just… I can't help it. I'm a huge flirt." He smiled to himself. "And you are cute."

Troy really had no idea what to say. Luckily, Jack started talking again.

"I, um, take it you're not…" Jack blinked at Troy.

Troy looked down at the table. Should he be himself? Or should he stay in character? This was certainly the most trying role he'd ever acted. He came to a decision and looked up at Jack.

"Gay? Actually…" He gulped. "Yeah. I am."

------------------------

Troy looked at his watch.

"Oh my gosh!" He laughed. "I've been in Starbucks for four hours."

"I think it's safe to say neither of us will be able to get to sleep for two days." Jack said, vaguely gesturing at the empty mugs on the table.

"That's perfect, I have a game in two days. I'll crash and fall asleep on the court, half way through running, and slide into the stands."

"I'll bring my camera. Hey, I can send the video to America's Funniest Home Videos. Maybe I can win money to say for all these coffees."

"Hey! I bought every other round." Troy pouted his bottom lip.

"Just playing. But maybe we should go and get something to eat to try and soak up this caffeine."

"Dude. It's not alcohol. But I agree with food. Where do you wanna go?"

"Pizza?"

"Pizza."

The two stood up, stretching and wincing at the pain of sitting down for so long. They grabbed their coats. Troy stood awkwardly, until Jack led the way to the door, and Troy followed.

When they reached the door, Jack opened it, and held it open for Troy to walk through.

"By the way," Troy smiled as he approached the open door. "I think you're really cute too." He walked through the door grinning like crazy.

"Oh, really?" A grinning Jack came bounding up behind Troy. "Well. I am, yes. Thanks for noticing."

"Oh no." Troy rolled his eyes. "You're one of those. In that case, you're no longer cute. I'll get pizza on my own, thanks."

Jack laughed and elbowed Troy.

"Too late, you're stuck with me. And I know exactly where I'm taking you for pizza."

"You're taking me?"

"Yeah. Is that a problem? Hurting your masculinity, basketball boy?"

Troy narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"You're so mean. But tell me about this pizza place."

"It's quite small, but it's real nice. It's right across the street from my apartment."

Jack pointed down the street at a small glowing sign.

"That's it. Right there."

When they arrived, it was packed full. A member of staff told them it was a 30 minute wait for a table.

"Can't wait that long." Troy grumbled. "Way too hungry."

"We could get take-out. And go to my place." Jack cleared his throat. "If you wanted to."

"Sure." Troy nodded. "But I'm gonna wait outside. It's a little hot in here."

"Okay. Wait, what pizza do you want?"

Troy shrugged.

"Whatever you want." He smiled.

He stepped out the door, and walked a few yards away from the door. He pulled his phone out and dialled Ryan's number.

"Welcome to your therapist's office, Mr Bolton." Ryan said, in a high-pitched voice. "Press one to announce your sexuality. Press two to share some angst. Press three if you would like to pay your enormous bill."

"Ryan!" Troy sighed loudly.

"I'm only playing, man. Always happy to help a teen in trouble. What happened with this boy?"

"I'm uh… still with him."

"You messaged me like four hours ago! Are you serious?"

"Yeah we're getting pizza and going to his apartment to eat it."

"Oh, wow… did you find out your answers?"

"Yes. And they were yes. And yes."

"No way. He was flirting with you?" Ryan let out a small laugh. "And you're still with him now?"

"Yup. Told me I'm cute. And I said to him… I told him that I'm gay. And that he's cute."

"And is he?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, Troy, I'm happy for you. I don't think you need my help anymore."

"What?" Troy said, slight panic in his voice. "But this isn't me. I'm in character. Remember?"

Ryan let out a small laugh.

"But Troy, the point of this exercise was to find out if this 'character' is really who you are. I'm here if you need me. But I don't think you will. Let me know what happens. Now get back to your boy!"

"Thanks Ryan." Troy said with a deep breath. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Hey!" Jack said, approaching Troy. "Got them. I live just there. Green door." Jack said, pointing across the street.

"That was quick pizza."

"I know, right. People just sit around in restaurants, what do they do?"

"Yeah!" Troy laughed sarcastically. "Like those people who sit around in coffee houses for four hours, crazy sons of bitches."

"Be quiet." Jack rolled his eyes and crossed the street, Troy following close behind.

When they got inside, Troy opened the pizza box, and grinned.

"Meat feast, now who is trying to prove their masculinity?"

Jack shook his head.

"Meat feast, for a start, is the gayest name for a pizza ever, hello? Anyway, hope you're not a vegetarian."

"No way, man." Troy said, looking around the apartment. He placed the pizza tentatively on top of the coffee table, covered in mail.

"Jack Pattison. Your surname is Pattison?"

"Yeah." Jack smiled. "Why so shocked? Did you think I had no surname? Or maybe you thought my name was Jack Starbucks."

"Not with the amount of coffee I had to buy for you." Troy looked up. "Hey. You ever been called JP?"

"Uh, no. Never, actually."

"Can I call you it?" Troy smiled, walking over to Jack. "'Cos as you know… Jack is my Dad's name."

"Oh, yeah." Jack screwed his face up, then shrugged. "JP is fine. I guess it's kinda cute. Coming from you anyway."

Troy blushed, and walked back over to the couch, and sat down. JP, as he was now known, joined him and they started to eat pizza.

"So, TB." JP said, tucking into a slice, and frowning at what he just called Troy. "Did you come out in High School? Sounds like a good school to come out in."

"No. I didn't come out in high school. TB, huh? Are you saying I'm a disease?"

"No! I'm saying you're infectious." JP said with a wink. "So you came out more recently, huh?"

"Um, well…" Troy stared at the ceiling. When did his character come out? Oh, right, he was supposed to be himself. Well… he hadn't. Only three people in the whole world knew about… him being gay. If he was. And two of them were in this room. "Not exactly."

JP frowned, and watched Troy shift uncomfortably.

"Troy… are you not out?"

Troy's bottom lip quivered. This was so awkward and kind of embarrassing.

"Something like that." He whispered.

"I don't blame you." JP sighed and shook his head. Troy looked at him.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, you remember what I said, sports fans aren't homo friendly. It's gotta be a million times for difficult for an up and coming basketball player to come out."

Troy sighed, and pushed his fingers into his hair. Oh god, he'd just started, maybe, to work out what he was feeling. Let alone telling everyone about it. And worrying about what they'd say.

"Who have you told?" JP asked, frowning at Troy's evident distress. He moved closer to him, and put his arm around him. "Your parents surely?"

"I'm… not out. At all."

"What?" JP shook his head. He took his arm back. "How long have you known?"

"I don't know." Troy groaned, covering his face with his hands. He was so sick of this distress.

"Woah." JP said, with a new edge to his voice. He folded his arms. "So… what is this? Are you just trying to test the waters with me?"

"Come on, JP. Of course not. I know what I am." Troy gulped, not sure if he just told a lie or not. He guessed that if he wasn't sure, then it must be a lie. JP sighed, and put his arm back around Troy.

"I just… I've been messed around before. And I really like you. Wouldn't like getting hurt by you much."

"Aww!" Troy smiled. He moved into JP and put his hand on his knee. "I really like you too."

"Okay, cards on the table now. Anything else I should know? No wife? Kids?"

Troy looked at the beautiful smiling man. Oh god, he was gonna have to tell him. He wishes he didn't have to. And if he was just looking to 'test the waters' it wouldn't matter. But JP was not only beautiful, he was a really great guy. Troy stood up. He picked his jacket up and started to put it on.

"Okay. You deserve to know the truth. You do." Troy sighed, and smiled sadly at JP. "I have a girlfriend. We've been together since high school."

JP screwed his face up, and looked at the floor. He took a breath and stood up.

"Well, thanks for being honest Troy. And you owe it to your girlfriend to be honest with her too."

"I know. I just don't want to hurt her. I love her so so much."

JP smiled. He folded his arms.

"Even more reason to tell her."


	11. Chapter 11

Troy was sat, in a big coat, next to a big camera, letting out a big yawn. It was a little after sunrise and Gabriella was shooting her video. Troy looked around him at the whitened desert around him. It was much prettier than Albuquerque - so that's why they chose to come all this way. He smiled as Gabriella looked over between shots, completely ecstatic.

He was quite excited when his phone rang. He looked at the screen. Ryan.

"Hey man! What are you doing up so early?"

"Dude, Nevada's three hours behind. I'm on my way to my first class."

"Sorry. I'm very tired."

"You're just.. Not great at geography."

"Whatever. I'm glad you rang though, I'm so bored." Troy whispered.

"Oh, but you're watching your best girl have the time of her life!"

"Shut up, Ryan. Not helping."

"Troy. Seriously though. How are you doing? You still thinking about that JP guy?"

"Only every minute."

"So… are you out of character now?"

"I guess…"

"So do you have something to tell me?"

"Uh…" Troy looked around him. "No."

"What?"

"Dude, I'm surrounded by like 50 people." Troy sighed. He got up out of his chair and walked off into a remote part of the surrounding area, yet untouched by Gabriella's crew.

"Ryan?"

"Yes?"

"I'm there."

"What? Nevada? Yeah, I know."

"No. I got there. I got to that place. And now I can, with ease, tell you… I am gay. There's no point denying it."

"I'm proud of you, Troy. Being true to yourself is the key to happiness."

"Well, I'm not exactly happy. I have to tell Gabriella. I have to tell Chad. I have to tell my Mom and Dad. My team mates. Apart from my Mom… I'm expecting everyone to completely reject me. You're gonna be my only friend. Hope you're prepared for that."

"Troy don't be so stupid. For a start, you and Chad have been friends for almost your entire lives. He's not gonna hate you for being gay. He's my friend. Remember?"

"I guess." Troy glanced back over at the shoot. "I gotta go, Gabriella's on break."

"Okay. Troy?"

"Yup?"

"You have to tell her. Soon. She'll respect you all the more for it."

"You don't understand. I love her. I may be gay but I love her to absolute bits."

"I know, Troy. That's why she deserves to know."

"That's what JP said." Troy smiled.

"You know you have to do it. Remember, I'm just at the end of the phone if you need me."

Ryan hung up and Troy pulled on his hair. He rolled his eyes and ran back over to his girlfriend.

"Hey baby. You're doing great!"

"Thanks! What were you doing over there?!"

"Ryan called me. He was bored before class. Told him where I was, and sent him on his way." Troy smiled.

"Aw. Poor Ryan. Did he say how his date went last night?"

"He had a date?"

"Yeah. I thought he would've told you. You guys have been chatting a lot recently."

"Maybe he…" Troy shrugged. "maybe he doesn't feel comfortable talking to me about guys."

"Oh, well I guess." Gabriella nodded. "I'm so tired, baby. And cold. This isn't glamorous."

Troy laughed and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, who was covered by a thick blanket.

"It'll be worth it."

---------------------------

One month later, and Gabriella was on her third hour staring at MTV. Troy brought her some dinner in on a tray, and lay it on the couch next to her.

"Thank you Troy!" She said, appreciative look on her face, but still staring at the TV. "Any minute now. They said it would definitely be in this 4 hour time slot, how long's it been so far?"

"Too long." Troy rolled his eyes. "Three hours, baby. I'm just gonna go downstairs and get the mail, okay?"

"Hurry back!"

Troy ran downstairs, and picked up the mail. It was mainly junk. There was a letter in an NBA envelope. His heart jumped. Had he done anything wrong? He couldn't think of anything. He ripped it open. Inside was another letter, addressed to him care of the D-League. He opened it.

"I know it was only one day, but I miss you.

Just in case…

232-0710

JP x"

"Oh my god." Troy sighed. He looked around him, and even at his own body - there was nowhere to stash this so that Gabriella wouldn't see it. Because she would misinterpret this big time. Well… the truth was still pretty ugly, but…

Troy sighed and stuffed the note into his sneaker. He ran back up to Gabriella, who, as he got to the top of the stairs, started screaming. He ran into the room.

"It's my video! Look! IT'S ME!"

"Wow, baby, you look so beautiful! Well, I mean, obviously. Have you pressed record?"

"Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh I can't believe I'm on TV! Singing!"

"Yeah." Troy laughed. "A far cry from karaoke, huh?"

Gabriella let out a grin.

"Yeah, baby." she glanced at him and kissed him on the cheek.

--------------------------

"Did you see it?"

"Yeah! It was awesome, I'm so proud of her. I take it she's completely buzzing."

"Yeah." Troy laughed. "She is. She's even got promo coming up for the single and stuff."

"You guys and your flourishing careers." Chad sighed. "I need to drop out of college and get a job."

"Don't you dare."

"Oh, I won't." Chad laughed.

"Good. Okay Gabs just came in, I better go. But I'll see you tomorrow."

Troy hung up the phone, and stood up to greet Gabriella.

"Hey baby." She grinned. "Are you busy next week Thursday?"

"Um…" Troy thought to himself. "I have practice. We have a game on Friday."

"What time will you finish?"

"I should be home by about 4. Why?" Troy smiled.

"There's just this, thing…. A movie…." Gabriella grinned. "premiere in LA I've been invited to."

"A movie premiere? Awesome! Which one?"

"Bears 2. It's an all-star cast voicing the characters too. Will you come with me?" Gabriella beamed.

"Sure." Troy smiled, then frowned. "Aw, I'm gonna have to dress up, aren't I? And people will be… looking at me."

"Looking at you, yeah… as opposed to when you play basketball games, no one watches you then."

"It's different!"

"Whatever. I'll book us some flights, just meet me at the airport after practice."

"Okay baby."

-------------------------

The next Monday, Troy was playing a game. Since the whole JP thing, Troy's feelings for Gary had waned somewhat. He still wasn't bad to look at but… Troy had been liberated.

When a time-out was called, something occurred to Troy. JP. JP loved coming to the Thunderbirds games. Was he out there watching?

He looked out briefly to the crowd. No sign of JP. Troy breathed a sigh of relief, but actually felt a little disappointed. As he turned to listen to his team mates, he saw a familiar face in the distance just behind one of his team mates. JP.

He wasn't sure if JP could see him. He seemed to be looking in his direction. Troy stood up straight and threw a smile over to him. Troy felt a flutter in his heart as JP gave a small wave back.

At half time, Troy snuck out onto the stands and approached JP.

"Hey." He gave a small smile.

"Troy." JP nodded and smiled. "How's it going?"

"Good, good." Troy folded his arms, nervously. The two of them sat in a few seconds of agonising silence.

"Um…" JP broke the silence. "Did you get my note?"

"Yeah." Troy nodded slowly, and smiled, looking into JP's eyes. "I did. Thanks."

"I take it, you, um…." JP fidgeted.

"Um…" Troy was equally lost for words. "I'm still… yeah. Actually my girlfriend's here, watching."

"Oh…" JP nodded. "Okay. I get it."

"Just so you know, though…" Troy whispered. "I missed you too."

JP sighed and smiled.

"You're a cool guy, Troy." JP sighed. "But you need to get your life together."

----------------------

Thursday came around, and Troy made his way to the airport. He was crazy nervous - when he was on the court, he was playing the game he loved, the game he was good at. But now he had to put on a suit and stand in front of people while they took pictures of him. Showbiz was scary.

When he arrived, Gabriella was waiting for him.

"Hey baby, our flight leaves in an hour, everything's sorted. Let's go get some food. We can go through to the gate in fifteen."

Troy scratched his arm. As if he wasn't nervous enough about the premiere, he was gonna have to fly as well.

"Eat, Troy." Gabriella said when the two of them sat down for a small dinner.

"I'm too nervous."

"About the premiere or the flying?"

"A horrible combination of both." Troy said, looking a little green.

"I'm here for you." Gabriella smiled at Troy. He weakly smiled back and squeezed her hand.

-------------------

Troy just about managed to get through the flight, but he felt rough. Which made him even more nervous about the premiere, because the whole world was about to see him looking green and unwell.

He finished tying his tie and put his suit jacket on.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Troy's bottom lip quivered as Gabriella pulled on her dress.

"Baby, you're gonna be fine, I'm here to hold your hand, just smile and you'll look gorgeous."

Troy looked at himself in the mirror.

"I look terrible."

Gabriella grinned and picked up her make-up bag.

"We can fix that."

"Ohh, no no no." Troy shook his head. "You are not putting make-up on me."

"We've got a while, let's compromise - I'll make you up, then if you don't like it, we'll take it all off. No harm done."

"Um…." Troy looked at his face in the mirror. "Okay."

Ten minutes later, Troy looked at himself in the mirror again.

"Oh my gosh, you're right! I look great!" Troy grinned to himself. "My lady, you are certainly an artist."

"Told you. I'm telling you, no one's gonna know. Let's go."

-----------------

The next day, Troy left Gabriella to take the train to his game in Idaho. He picked up a magazine at the train station and eagerly flipped through the pages.

"Up and coming star Gabriella Montez with boyfriend, NBA D-League player Troy Bolton"

Troy didn't even know how they knew his name or who he was. He almost felt upset, though, at the picture of them. Gabriella looked absolutely stunning. They looked amazing together and it was a shame they were soon to break up. Troy's throat tightened and tears pricked his eyes. The thought of breaking Gabriella's heart was too much to even think about.

He was distracted when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw Ryan's name on the display.

"Hey, Ry." He sighed.

"Woah. You sound happy." Ryan sarcastically commented. "For a celebrity."

"So I guess you saw my face plastered somewhere or another."

"Maybe. Are you wearing make up?"

"Oh my gosh! Gab said no one would know."

"Well I guess I'm extra special. Anyway - you two look very happy together."

"Ryan…"

"Are you ever gonna tell her? Are you?"

"Of course I am."

"I just…" Ryan sighed. "I don't want to see you live a lie."

Troy agreed with Ryan, he couldn't live a lie. But the timing was wrong. Gabriella was so ecstatic about her career finally blossoming. But then… would the time ever be right?


	12. Chapter 12

This was it. He was going to tell Gabriella today. He guessed he'd have to go to his parents' house. Of course he wouldn't tell them why him and Gabriella had split up. The thought of going back to his parents made this whole thing feel so real and he was absolutely terrified.

"Hey baby." Gabriella smiled as Troy came through the door. He felt rough after a horrendous practice with the team. He came home early, in fact, because he was absolutely no use to anyone.

Troy's jaw was shaking, making his teeth clatter together. He was nervous, scared, upset, reluctant… everything. He considered not telling her - and a slight relief waved over him. But… not quite enough. The sooner this was out of the way, the better.

"Gabriella, can we have a chat?"

"Of course, what's on your mind?"

Troy took Gabriella's hand, and led her into the living room, and onto the couch.

"Gabs, baby…. You do know, right, that I love you - I love you with all my heart, I can't get enough of you…" Troy fought back the tears. "I couldn't love you any more than I do."

"Yeah, I'm a lucky girl." Gabriella whispered with a frown, already trying to fight back the tears. "Troy, what's the…" Gabriella clenched her eyes shut. "What's going on?"

Gabriella was feeling emotions that she didn't even know how to describe. She wasn't sure where this was going - a speech that starts like that was either gonna have a really great or a really horrible ending. And judging from Troy's face, it wasn't good.

"Just recently, I've been going through some stuff. It's been really difficult, I've been confused about some stuff but I've come out the other side and I know myself a little better." Troy gulped. "And you deserve to know me a little better too." he clenched his eyes shut.

"Troy…" Gabriella whimpered through the tears now flowing down her face. "What is it?"

Troy's eyes were still clenched shut, but now with tears seeping through.

"I love you." He sobbed. "But you have to know what I am."

"What you are?" Gabriella sobbed back. "Just tell me Troy, you've gotta tell me!" Gabriella frantically squealed.

"Gab, I'm gay."

Troy let go, and sobbed uncontrollably into his hands.

"I am so sorry." Troy managed to say through the tears. He glanced up at Gabriella.

She wasn't crying, sobbing, she wasn't doing anything. She was frozen, her glazed-over eyes staring painfully at the floor, mouth slightly open. She managed a blink, before starting to shiver.

"Say something." Troy whispered. "Anything. Shout at me. Throw things?"

Gabriella turned her head slightly towards Troy.

"How… how can you be…" Gabriella whimpered. "What about me? You just said…" she let out a big sob. "You love me. We belong together. Everyone says it." She sobbed again, before letting out a little laugh. "Yeah. You're not gay. You can't be."

"Gabriella."

"You can't be!" Gabriella shouted. She brought her hands up to her face and sobbed.

"Gabi, listen to me. You need to listen."

"You can't be gay!" She shouted again. "What about me?" she started to whisper.

"This is hard for me too." He whispered back. He moved closer towards her and moved to put his arms around her.

"Don't touch me, Troy!" Gabriella shouted.

"Gab!" Troy whined, tears flowing down his face. "I know you're hurting but… I still love you. And you love me. I hurt you, please… at least let me comfort you."

Gabriella sobbed and threw her head onto Troy's shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He started to slightly rock her.

"I know it's hard, but try and calm down. We need to talk properly about this."

About half an hour later, Gabriella had pretty much stopped sobbing. Every now and then, she'd open her mouth to say something, but Troy silenced her.

"Gabi, are you ready to talk?"

She looked up. She nodded.

"I'm gonna go to my parents tonight. I'll go as soon as you want me to, don't worry about that."

Gabriella nodded again.

"Okay, Gabi, I want you to know…" Troy sighed. "I love you and I had to tell you because I don't want to hurt you. I know that sounds stupid now but I've only just realised it myself and I couldn't lead you on anymore. I told you as soon as I could."

"Okay."

Troy sighed.

"I was never unfaithful. I give you my whole hearted promise."

"Did anyone know?"

Troy looked up and nodded.

"Just one person. Ryan. He's been an amazing friend to me all through this, he helped me find my way. And as soon as I called him to tell him I knew I was gay, the first thing he said was you owe it to Gabriella to tell her."

Gabriella started to cry again.

"I'm sorry!"

"Troy." She sobbed. "What am I gonna do without you?! You're like.. a part of me. Even when you're away… I feel like my right arm is missing. Troy, we've been together for our entire adult lives."

"I know. And I don't want to lose you. And I'd like us to be friends when we recover from this. But I won't insult you by asking you to be my friend. Because that's probably the worst thing to ask of you."

Gabriella looked Troy in the eyes.

"Troy. Listen, I'm not mad. I'm devastated, yeah, but just because I love you so much." she started sobbing. "But I know how these things work. I know it's not your fault, and I believe you when you say you love me and didn't want to hurt me. I don't feel deceived, or anything like that… I know you. Like I know myself. Better, in fact. And I know that everything you're saying is the truth."

Troy started sobbing again himself. He squeezed Gabriella's arm.

"You're so awesome!" He laughed through his tears. He pulled her close, and kissed her on the head, and once again on the forehead. She looked up.

"I love you Troy Bolton."

He smiled.

"I love you Gabriella Montez."

She lifted her head up to Troy's sobbing face. She gently pressed her lips against his. He grazed her face with his hand. The two of them stayed connected, sobbing through their kiss. Gabriella broke away, but Troy pulled her back against his lips.

"I am gay." He let out a small laugh. "But I love you. I can't help but want to kiss you all the time."

"Don't worry, Troy." Gabriella sighed. "You're my best friend. That won't change. But I'm gonna need a bit of space. But not yet."

Troy smiled at her. She truly was his soul mate. She understood him so well. He had just broken her heart and she was being so great. He sat up straight on the couch.

"I need some water. You want some?"

"Yes please."

Troy returned with two bottles of water and Gabriella smiled.

"Ain't life a bitch." She sighed.

"You got that right. Just when your life is perfect… something comes and ruins it."

Gabriella took a sip from her bottle, put the lid back on, and put it on the floor. She got up, and sat down on Troy's lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lay her head on his chest.

"Maybe you should stay tonight. If that's okay?"

"Of course, Gabi." Troy smiled, "If that's what you want. Anything for you."

"You hungry? We need to eat dinner. How about I go pick up some Chinese?"

"Are you sure you're up to going out?!" Troy asked.

"I'd rather be busying myself. I need some air anyway."

"Okay."

When Gabriella had cleaned herself up and left to pick up food, Troy sat and stared for a bit. He wasn't too sure what had just happened. Of course, he'd told Gabriella the harsh truth. And she'd freaked out - for all of five minutes. How could she be so calm? He should've gone with her to get the food. But as she had said - she knew him better than anyone, and he knew her too. They genuinely did just love each other that much. She couldn't be mad when she knew inside her that it wasn't his fault.

He flipped open his phone and dialled that number he felt like he was always dialling these days.

"Bolton." Ryan growled down the phone, with a giggle hidden under there somewhere.

"Ry…"

"Troy, are you okay? Oh my god, did you…"

"I told her."

"Is she okay?"

"She's being so amazing. She's taken it really well. She even doesn't want me to leave tonight. I guess she wants the support."

"From you?"

"That's love, I guess."

"Wow. And how are you?"

"I'm… numb. I'm devastated at the amount I just made my best girl cry."

"Troy. This must be so difficult. But this is the start of a whole new era for you."

"Yeah, once me and Gabi get through this."

"Where is she now?"

"Gone to pick up dinner. She insisted."

"Okay. I'm thinking of you, I'll call you tomorrow to check how everything is. Stay strong, okay?"

"Thanks, Ry. Thanks for everything."

-------

After dinner, Gabriella cuddled herself up to Troy.

"So, um…" She choked on her words, causing Troy to wander if she would start crying again. "Is there… someone?"

"Gabi, do you really wanna talk about this?"

"I'd rather know."

"Okay… well… yes and no. I, um… had a crush on Gary. From the Thunderbirds. You and Chad met him."

"Oh. Yeah, I remember." She said, choking on her words even more.

"And, um…" Troy clenched his eyes shut. "I met a guy, a good few weeks ago now. I noticed him in Starbucks. He started talking to me, turned out he was a Thunderbirds fan. Anyway - he said he was gay, and then…." Troy gulped. "We ended up talking for hours. Then we got some pizza."

"Did, um…" Gabriella sniffed. "Did he know you were gay?"

"I didn't know myself. Until probably, that day. Ryan made me do this exercise where I put myself in the mind frame I was gay. So… I'd told this guy I was gay. Then when I realised how comfortable I was in the persona.. That was when I realised it was no persona, and that was me."

"What happened to this guy?"

"I told him I had a girlfriend. He was really nice about it actually. It's kinda awkward though, he still comes to games."

Gabriella was silent for a moment.

"That's the guy you were talking to at the game, and half time."

"You, uh… saw me?"

"Yeah. I did."

Silence once again.

"Are you okay?"

"I might go lie down." Gabriella said, rubbing her head.

"You want me to come?"

She nodded, and took his hand.

"I'm gonna shower." Gabriella sighed once they got upstairs, and walked into the bathroom. Troy took his clothes off, hesitated, and put his boxers back on. He got into bed, and closed his eyes. He'd had a hectic day and laying down felt so good.

He started to doze, and, twenty minutes later, was awoken by a weight on him. He opened his eyes to find Gabriella naked, straddling him.

"Hey, wh…" Troy rubbed his eyes, and expressed on his face a look of confusion. "What are you doing?"

Gabriella stroked her index finger down Troy's cheek.

"What am I gonna do without you, huh?"

"You'll be great. You're an amazing, independent woman. Anyway, you won't be without me."

Gabriella leaned down and kissed Troy. She rolled over and got under the covers.

"I'll miss you, Troy. I know you'll still be my friend. But I'll miss you. Kissing you, touching you, making love…. Being naughty…" She smiled. "Just… being with you."

Troy smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"This is what I don't get." Troy said quietly with a sigh. "When I look at you… I just wanna kiss you. And touch you. And when we're.. together, all I want to do is please you. But…" Troy shook his head.

"It's okay. You can't live a lie."

"I just feel like…"

"Troy! You don't have to explain yourself. Relax. Please."

Troy smiled and pulled Gabriella against his body. She frowned.

"Troy, why are you wearing your boxers?" She rolled her eyes. "Take them off."

Troy grinned at her and wriggled a bit until he produced his boxers, throwing them somewhere near the laundry bag.

"Troy, this is hard for both of us, but I love you. Things aren't gonna change. Well, obviously it will. But it's still me. This is still me and you."

"Okay."

Troy pulled Gabriella's leg up on top of his, and stroked her thigh.

"How can you be so amazingly cool about this?"

"Because what we have, Troy. It's special. I know what you mean to me, and I know what I mean to you. I'll still spend my life with you in some ways."

"But you understand that sooner or later I'm gonna…"

"I know. To be honest… It will probably be harder then."

Troy sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'm so confused."

"Let's sleep. Things might make more sense in the morning."

Troy smiled without opening his eyes again.

"Oh, and Troy?"

"Mmm?"

"Please don't go to your parents. Stay here until you find somewhere."

"But…"

"No buts."

* * *

Is _anyone_ reading this?x


	13. Chapter 13

Troy sat, a week later, eating his cereal, watching Good Morning America. Gabriella was about to be interviewed on it, and Troy had promised he would watch - he would have gone with her had he not had a game later that same day. Gabriella had already called him to say it went well - she was in NYC which was two hours ahead of Albuquerque.

Troy put his bowl and and sat up straight, pressing record on the VCR when Gabriella came on.

They asked her the generic questions, about her single, video her album, etc. Troy raised his eyebrows, however, towards the end of the interview.

"So you have a boyfriend, Troy. He plays for Albuquerque's Development League team, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"How do you guys manage to spend time together? You off doing promotion, him off playing around the country."

"We manage. It's not too bad at the moment but I guess it's gonna get more hectic!"

Troy shook his head with a smile. Gabriella looked perfectly happy, as if nothing was wrong. She knew how to put on a front.

"I didn't know what to do, Troy." She said, when Troy rang her an hour later. "It never dawned on me they might ask questions about you."

"It's weird. Coach reckons more people have started turning up to watch our games since you became… famous." Troy sighed. "I guess… I'm associated with you so I'm almost a celebrity."

"Yeah. I guess I should somehow get it into the media we've split up. But you know, they will start asking questions…"

"Ugh, you're right." Troy sighed. "I'm not exactly ready for that."

"Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"No, that'll sound… no."

"Gabi, what?"

"I know you want no one to know. And this is already helping your career. Mine too, because you're hot. So what if…"

"You're not gonna say what I think you're gonna say."

"We just have to… not tell them we're not together. We act together anyway."

"You want to fake a relationship for the press?" Troy sighed. "It makes sense, I guess."

--------------

"I heard Gabi talking about you on TV today." Chad said, stuffing his face with pizza.

"Listen, there's something I've gotta tell you, Chad. And I kinda wish you hadn't seen that this morning, because now I gotta tell you two things."

Chad frowned, and put his pizza down.

"Go on."

Troy moved in closer to Chad.

"Me and Gabriella…" Troy whispered. "We've split up."

"You've WHAT?" Chad screamed. "Sorry." He said, lowering his voice. "Why?!"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Troy said quickly. "We're still the best of friends though. But… there's more."

"Go on." Chad sighed.

"We're staying together. Well, pretending to. For the sake of our careers and the media."

"You're staging a relationship."

"Well!" Troy said, shaking his head. "Hardly. Well. Yeah I guess."

"This is too much to take in right now."

"You have no idea."

"Dude, you gotta tell me why you guys split up. Had to be something big to break you two apart - but you still are friends? Something isn't right."

"I'll tell you another time. I'm a little stressed out by all this now."

-------------------

"I didn't realise how hard it would be, Ry."

"Have you thought about telling your parents?"

"God no!"

"Troy…"

"Well, maybe my Mom. But my Dad? You know him. No way."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"Nope. Chad was on my case about why me and Gabi split up. I'll tell him. Just not yet."

"Tell your Mom first!"

----------

The next day, Troy was literally, physically shaking. He put his key in the door and entered his family home.

"Hey Mom." Troy had arrived at 2, when he knew his Dad would still be teaching at school.

"Hey Troy!" his Mom hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "And how is my boy?"

"I'm.… okay, Mom."

"Just okay?"

"Let's go sit."

Troy followed his Mom into the living room, where Troy sat down on the chair he sat in for most of his teenage years. He put his feet up on the seat and hugged his knees.

"Mommy." Troy said, bottom lip quivering. "You'll always love me, right?"

"My boy, what ever is the matter?!" Troy's Mom got up from the coach and sat on the arm of Troy's chair, stroking his hair. Troy threw his head onto her leg.

"I'm gay, Mom." Troy said, unable to keep himself from sobbing.

"You're… gay? You're sure?"

Troy nodded, still sobbing.

"Mom, please don't tell Dad."

"Aw, baby." She rubbed his arm. "I won't. But you've got to tell him sometime."

"I know, Mom." Troy looked up. "Do you still love me?"

"Of course I do! Oh, Troy, you are silly. Are you okay?"

"I guess."

"Have you told Gabriella?"

"Yeah. She's been great. She even told me to stay at the apartment until I find somewhere of my own. We're trying to stay friends. Best friends."

"Talking of which. What about Chad?"

Troy huddled his knees closer. He glanced up at his Mom.

"He knows nothing."

"Oh, Troy, that's no good. He's your best friend. You need to tell him."

"He's next on my list, Mom."

"You'll be okay, darling. Wasn't that blonde boy from East High gay? Are you still in contact with him? He might be able to help you through this hard time."

"Yeah, he's actually helped me a lot already. He's turned out to be a really good friend."

-----------------

He got home to an empty house. Gabriella was still in NY and wasn't gonna be home for two days. He took his shoes off and kicked them out of the way. He squinted as he saw something inside it.

He took out the piece of paper, unfolded it and read it. JP's note. Troy stared at the phone number. He frowned, and stuffed the note into his pocket. He couldn't deal with that right now. He couldn't help but think of him though - he hadn't been at the game yesterday. Troy pushed him out of his mind, he didn't even want to think about why he hadn't been there. Troy jumped when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"saw gab on tv. Talkin about u again. I don't get it u have 2 tell me! Chad"

Troy screwed up his face and screamed. He was already beat from telling his Mom. But at the same time, he was on a roll.

"fine. Come round & I'll tell u. brace yourself."

Half an hour later, there was a knock on Troy's door.

"You're a pain in my ass, Danforth." Troy said when he opened it.

"Shut up." He said, pulling Troy into a half hug. Troy slightly shook his head to himself. He wondered if Chad would be repulsed in a few minutes about what he just did.

"So." Chad said, walking into the living room. "Brace myself, huh."

"Yup. You're gonna be… a bit shocked."

"C'mon, man."

Troy sat down, away from Chad, and sighed. He huddled into himself, and closed his eyes.

"I've not been very…. Happy recently." Troy started. "I've been going through some stuff."

"Can say I hadn't noticed, man. You haven't been… yourself exactly, for a good while now."

Troy looked up, and smiled. His best friend knew him well.

"Well… I've sorted myself out. Kinda."

"Troy."

Troy put his hands over his face. This was the one time he definitely wanted to fight the tears. God, this never got any easier.

"I'm gay."

Troy peeked at Chad out the side of the hand covering his eyes.

"Chad. Say something. For crying out loud."

"You're not gay. How can you be gay?"

Troy sighed, and shrugged.

"You're not gay." Chad repeated. "You don't…. like boys."

Troy rolled his eyes, and felt his lip start to quiver. He clenched his eyes shut.

"I'm gay, Chad. I'm sorry. But you're gonna have to deal with it. Same as me. And Gabi."

"Gabi." Chad said quietly. "Poor Gabi." he shook his head. "How can you do this to her?!"

"Chad please!" Troy shouted.

Chad shook his head again.

"I'm not listening to this."

He stood up, and stomped to the door, and left, slamming the door behind him. Troy collapsed into tears. This couldn't be happening.


	14. Chapter 14

Troy knew his Mom was right, he had to tell his Dad, but he really wasn't up to it right now. Not after Chad's horrible reaction. He'd tried calling him, no answer, and after a few tries, started to go straight to voicemail.

He sulked for a good few days. Gabriella came home from NY and was worried, Troy wouldn't tell her what was wrong. After a day or two of constant pestering, she finally got him to talk.

"Now." Gabriella told Troy. "Tell me what happened."

"Fine. It's just that Chad didn't take it too well that his best friend likes boys."

"Oh no, baby, I'm so sorry."

"Forget about it. I'll find new friends." Troy coughed. "I'm a celebrity right?"

Gabriella smiled sympathetically and rubbed Troy's arm. He looked down to it and looked back up at Gabriella.

"Gabi?"

"Mmhmm?"

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Thanks."

"You know what I mean."

Gabriella looked down and started to play with her sleeve.

"Holding up."

"It's just…" Troy cleared his throat. "I know we're like… best friends. But I'm wondering if our current set-up is letting you breathe and get over the situation."

Gabriella shrugged, still looking down.

"I'm not ready to be away from you. Can't imagine coming home and… not still having you to cuddle, and look after me…"

"It's difficult. I know."

"You don't, Troy. You don't know how it feels."

"Okay. Maybe I don't. But I know that we can't carry on like this. It's just doing you no good. And me too, I just don't think it's healthy."

"What do you mean?"

"I know it would be easier to carry on. For me, too. But we both need to get on with our separate lives. You deserve to be happy."

"I am happy. When you're here with me."

"You're not happy. C'mon. You deserve someone who can give you their all."

Gabriella looked up, and rolled her eyes. She sniffed as one or two tears fell.

"I guess you're right. I guess… the longer it carries on, the harder it's gonna be."

"Exactly." Troy smiled gently. "So… maybe I should stay at my parents' tonight."

Gabriella widened her eyes and shook her head.

"Please, Troy. Stay with me just one more night. Please?"

Troy looked up, and sighed. He hesitated, but nodded. He pulled Gabriella into a hug.

"What about the press?" Gabriella whispered.

"Crap. I forgot about them." Troy sighed. "We'll figure something out. Maybe I'll move back when we've both had time to move on."

Gabriella nodded.

"C'mon, you." Troy smiled, nudging Gabriella. "Let's go to bed."

Gabriella looked up at Troy, and smiled.

"I wanna remember this night, Troy."

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Troy asked, slightly wary.

"Let's watch a romantic movie. With popcorn." Gabriella stood up. "And champagne."

Troy raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"Champagne, huh?"

"Tonight, Troy… we celebrate what we've had these past few years."

"Okay, okay…"

"Go upstairs and choose a movie."

Ten minutes later, the microwave popcorn was ready and Gabriella brought it, along with champagne and strawberries, up to her and Troy's bedroom.

"Now…" Troy said. "I was gonna choose The Break Up but thought that was a bit insensitive."

"How thoughtful. Especially to tell me about it."

"Anyway…" Troy rolled his eyes. "I couldn't decide. What about What Happens in Vegas?"

"Interesting choice, a movie about a fake relationship."

"Gabs! Fine, you choose one."

Gabriella observed the DVD rack. She ran her finger down the rack, touching each DVD spine as she went on.

"Aw." She cooed. "This one."

She held up Pretty Woman, and Troy shrugged indifferently.

"You're the boss!" He laughed, and looked over to the desk. "Are those strawberries?"

"They might be." She threw her head to the side and smiled at Troy.

"You." He laughed. "You're something else."

Troy felt an old, familiar feeling. A feeling of love, and warmth. Gabriella put the DVD in, and picked up the tray with the popcorn, strawberries and champagne on it. She walked over to the bed, in which Troy had got into.

Gabriella placed the tray on the end of the bed, and climbed in next to Troy, who promptly pulled her into a huge cuddle.

"I love you."

"I know. I love you too, Troy."

-----------------

As the movie came to an end, Gabriella was lay on Troy's now bare chest, dipping a strawberry into her champagne. She looked up at Troy, who looked down to her, and smiled. She lifted the strawberry up to his mouth, and he wrapped his lips around it, and took a bite. He made approving sounds as Gabriella dipped the rest into her glass, and held it back up to Troy. She put the champagne glass on her bedside table, and sat up as Troy once again took the strawberry into his mouth, taking the tips of Gabriella's fingers in with him.

"Troy!" She gasped, with a smile.

Troy took Gabriella's hand in his, and kissed her fingers.

"I'm gonna give you a night to remember." Troy whispered.

Gabriella's chest tightened, as she looked at Troy, confused. Her eyes closed as Troy brought his lips towards hers, stopping just millimetres away.

"This is how much I love you." He pressed his lips against hers.

"Troy." She said, pulling away from the kiss. "You don't have to…"

"I want to." Troy whispered to a confused Gabriella. "This isn't about sexuality, or pleasure, or satisfaction." He smiled, running a hand down her back. "This is about intimacy. And love."

"I love you." Gabriella whimpered in a slight whisper.

Troy pressed his lips to her neck, and ran his hands down to the bottom of the dress she was wearing. He started to massage her thighs, before pulling her dress up and over her head. Troy looked at Gabriella's cleavage heaving out of her bra as she breathed heavily, and smiled to himself.

"Troy, are you gonna be able… to…" Gabriella asked worriedly.

"Yeah." He smiled. "This intimacy… always a turn-on."

Gabriella smiled and nodded, and she let out a moan as Troy's hands travelled her body.

-------------------------------

Troy stood in his parents' kitchen, making the dinner, and couldn't stop grinning to himself. In fact, he'd been the same all day. Even the fact he had moved out of his apartment with Gabriella hadn't stifled his grin. Because he knew he'd had the perfect ending to that era in his life.

Gabriella was pretty much the same, although she did cry when Troy left. She had, when he was leaving, realised that Troy was right - this was for the best. She could live off of last night forever, if she had to.

Troy pulled himself up onto the island in the kitchen, and looked at the oven timer. 6 minutes, and the meal he was preparing for his parents would be ready.

Okay, he thought to himself, maybe it's time to work on losing the stupid grin. His Dad would wonder why he was grinning so stupidly despite the fact he'd broken up with Gabriella, and his Mom would be confused for different reasons. Although he could probably tell her the truth later on.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out. Of course, he thought, as he looked at the display.

"Hey Ry." Troy sighed contently.

"Hey…" Ryan grinned to himself. "I take it you called JP."

"Nope. Wrong person. Wrong sex."

"What?"

"I did something, Ry."

"What?"

"I moved out today. I'm back with my parents."

"Oh, good." Ryan said. "So… why so happy?"

"Oh, nothing…." Troy stifled a grin. "We just… we had the perfect last night together."

"Aw, well, that's… what do you mean by perfect?"

"We watched a movie, we had champagne, and... We…" Troy giggled. "We celebrated our relationship. And the intimacy we came to share."

"Oh my god, Troy. Did you have sex with her?"

"No, no." Troy said, unconvincingly. "We made love, Ryan."

"So you had sex."

"It's like I told her. It wasn't about getting pleasure, or being satisfied, or about sexuality. It was me expressing my love for her. We were being intimate and embracing the bond our two souls had formed."

Ryan laughed, inoffensively, and made some kind of approving, sweet noise.

"That was nice of you to do for her."

"C'mon Ryan." Troy sighed. "I wasn't doing her a favour. I wanted to do it and I enjoyed it."

"Really? You did?"

"Ryan…" Troy said slowly and dreamily. "It was the most amazing sex we're ever had. It was the best night of my life."

"Guess I just don't understand."

"Have you ever been in love, Ry?"

"No. I haven't." Ryan sighed.

"That's what love can do to you. I am so in love with her, it didn't matter that her body didn't arouse me. Her soul did and male or female, we had some great sex."

Troy blushed, as he realised where he was. He quickly scanned the kitchen, noticing all doors were closed and, seeing as he wasn't talking too loud, he needn't worry about anyone, especially his Dad, overhearing.

"That's a lovely story, Troy. I'm happy for you."

"Except that… now I've gotta get over her. Stop loving her. Well, to that extent."

"I guess."

Troy heard a noise coming from the next room, and jumped off of the island.

"I gotta go."

"Okay. You know what the next step is, don't you?"

"What?"

"Calling JP."

"Ryan, I need to get over Gabriella and find myself before I go off gallivanting with hot guys."

"Ha ha." Ryan laughed, "Fair enough. Talk to you soon."

"How's it going, Troy?" Troy's Dad asked, walking into the kitchen just as Troy stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

"Not too bad, Dad." He answered, managing to stifle his grin.

"You ready to talk about it?" His Dad carefully asked. "I wanna help."

"Oh…" Troy scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe later, Dad."

"Okay." Jack Bolton shifted himself nervously. "Well, you know where I am."

In the middle of his sentence, Troy's Mom walked into the kitchen.

"Hello, Troy, how's my boy?"

"Lucille, he's a man now. A man living his own life in the world."

"Oh, Dad…" Troy nervously laughed, then breathed a sigh of relief as the oven timer pinged.

He strode over to the oven and turned it off.

"C'mon you guys." Troy said to his parents. "Go and sit down. I've already laid the table."

Troy rolled his eyes as his parents sighed and gave in, and made their way to the dining room. Troy took the lasagne out of the oven.

----------------

"Troy, that was simply amazing."

"Who knew?" Troy's Dad laughed. "I don't remember you being able to cook. Quite the opposite."

Troy shook his head as he put his fork in his mouth, with the last mouthful of his dinner on it.

"Well," Troy said, swallowing. "This one was an original Zeke Baylor recipe."

"Zeke! Good old Zeke. How is he?" Troy's Dad smiled at the memory of his former pupil.

"He's pretty good. As far as I know, anyway."

"Um, Troy, I'm gonna do the dishes, thanks for dinner." His Mom smiled warmly. "Can you help me bring them all to the kitchen?"

"Sure Mom." Troy picked up the remaining plates and followed his Mom to the kitchen.

"Troy." His Mom whispered when they arrived in the kitchen. "The way to a man's heart, is through his stomach."

"Mom?" Troy smiled slightly. "You've got a brilliant career as a fortune cookie waiting for you."

"Troy!"

"Mom, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your father." Troy's Mom nudged him in the ribs. "I think now's the time. He's full of delicious food and he's happy."

"Mom…" Troy said in a long drawn out whine. "But don't you think it might send the wrong message?"

"In what way?"

"Well… cooking's a little…" Troy glanced at his Mom. "Girly."

"Oh, Troy, stop being silly!" His Mom rolled her eyes. "Go and tell him."

"Mom…." He whined again. She stared at him. "Okay… Okay."

Troy took several deep breaths, before forcing himself into the dining room.

"Dad…"

"Thanks for dinner, Troy."

"You're welcome, Dad." He gave his Father a smile. "I would like to talk to you about something."

"Shoot."

"Well, um…" Troy gulped. "I know you've been wondering why me and Gabriella have split up."

"You guys looked happy enough at that premiere. I saw the photos in your Mom's magazine."

"It was all my fault."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Dad, I…" Troy rolled his eyes at himself. This got no easier no matter how many times he repeated it. "Recently, I've had some… identity issues."

"Identity issues?"

"Yeah. And…" Troy glanced at his Dad, but looked back down at the table. "There's really no easy way to put this so I'll just say it. I'm gay."

"You are what?"

Troy didn't repeat himself. Why? He knew his Father had heard all two words of his confession.

"Troy!" His Dad raised his voice. "What did you say?!"

"I'm gay, Dad." Troy said, with slightly more confidence. "That's why we broke up. And why I'm back here. And if it's difficult for you to accept, then…"

Lucille came in after hearing her husband shouting. She speedily made her way to Troy, who she observed looked slightly queasy, or something. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Lucille, I assume you knew about this?"

"Calm down, Jack. This is still Troy. Still your boy."

Jack had a stubborn, pouty look on his face. Lucille left her son and approached her husband.

"I know it's hard to hear, Jack." She whispered in his ear. "But there's nothing you can do about it. There's nothing you could ever have done bout it."

Jack gulped and seemed to have trouble ridding his throat of a lump. He looked slightly up, but not quite at Troy.

"How's Gabriella?"

"She's really… not bad. I told her a few days ago and I've helped her work through it. But it was time for us to move on separately."

"That's good, baby. And good that you've been helping each other." Lucille told her son. "Isn't that nice, Jack?" She kissed her husband on the forehead, and made her way back to the kitchen.

"I just don't know what to say, Troy."

"But you're not gonna throw me out?"

Jack looked up at his son, scared and nervous at the other end of the table.

"Of course not. You'll always be my son."

Jack promptly got up and left the room. Troy was relieved, his Dad wasn't angry. But he didn't feel entirely comfortable with the situation. He walked into the kitchen and put his arms around his Mom's waist.

"Aw, honey. He'll come around. He's probably a little freaked out right now."


	15. Chapter 15

Troy woke up the next morning feeling happier than he had in a good while. He'd finally come out to everybody he wanted to. Although… his Dad seemed a little freaked out and who knows what Chad was thinking.

He'd barely been awake 3 minutes when his phone rang. Ryan, he supposed. He sat up when he read 'Gabriella' on the display.

"Hey!" He enthused, rubbing his fingers over his eyes.

"Hey Troy. Did you tell your Dad?"

"Yeah… he's okay. Things will be fine over here."

"Great. Listen… can you come over later?"

Troy laughed. He rolled his eyes lovingly.

"I just left yesterday! But sure."

"Good. I've got something for you. How's noon?"

Troy glanced at his clock. 9.50am.

"Sure thing. See you then."

--------

As Troy approached the door, he reached in his pocket to get his key. Which… Was still there. He refrained from letting himself in, though, and politely knocked on the door.

"Hey!" Gabriella smiled. "You could've let yourself in, you know."

"Well… it's rude."

"Before you come up…" Gabriella whispered. "There's something here for you. Just… be nice."

Troy threw Gabriella a very confused expression, before walking up the stairs into the apartment. He stood awkwardly in the hall, before following Gabriella into the living room.

"Hey."

Troy raised his eyebrows at the man sitting on the couch in front of him.

"Hey."

"I, uh…" Gabriella fidgeted on the spot, then headed for the hall. "Get some drinks, or something."

Gabriella left the room, leaving Troy staring at Chad.

"I'm sorry, Troy." Chad mumbled.

Troy sat down on a chair at the other side of the room. He stayed silent, but put his hand over his mouth, in case his lip started quivering. The tears, those he could fight, but he didn't want his uncontrollable quivering lip to give him away.

"I am, I'm sorry Troy, really." Chad sat rigid in his seat, not really knowing what to do. "I'm a jerk, I know. You must think really low of me."

"Don't think low of you." Troy mumbled. "Cos I didn't know what was going through your mind."

"I don't even know. I just…" Chad looked at the ceiling and shook his head. "I guess I just thought that I knew you. Better than anyone, maybe. Then you tell me… that. And I had no idea."

"Not too long ago, neither did I."

"I know. I'm sorry, Troy." Chad blinked fast. "I know you need my support now. So just so you know, I'm… okay with it."

Troy shrugged and pulled at imaginary fluff on the chair he was sitting on.

"I figured you would be." He said. "Eventually. I know that you're okay with Ryan. Friends, in fact."

"Yeah." Chad managed a small laugh. "Thing about him is… I guess I've just always known."

The two sat in silence for a minute or two. There was the odd glance exchanged, but mostly the silence was heavy and awkward, both of them desperately looking for something to occupy their eyes, or words to say to the other that would work in this situation.

"I wish things would just go back to normal." Chad said quietly, just above a whisper.

"I know. Change sucks." Troy sighed. "Things will never be the same."

"One thing won't change. We'll always be best friends."

Troy looked up, and his and Chad's eyes met for the first time since the day of Troy's confession. Troy smiled warmly and Chad did the same.

"I understand a lot more than I did, though." Chad told Troy. "Had a long chat with Gabriella."

"That's my girl." Troy smiled.

Chad looked up at Troy, and moved himself to the edge of the couch.

"Hug it out?"

Troy looked up. His face broke into what eventually became a wide, relieved smile. He stood up, as did Chad, who approached him, and threw his arms around him. The men patted each other on the back, and broke apart.

"Just because I freaked out," Chad sighed to Troy, "doesn't mean I'm like those homophobes, all like, he's gay, he's gonna come on to me, don't touch me, blah blah…"

Troy let out a small laugh. It was so like Chad to try and say something helpful, but really not help at all.

"Thanks?" Troy laughed again.

"You know what I mean, man. We hug, I'm not suddenly gonna think you're getting sexual thrills out of it."

Troy ever so slightly blushed.

"Okay, okay… Chad…" Troy exhaled with a shy laugh. "I know you're not like that. No worries."

"Good." Chad sighed with a big grin. "Oh, I, uh… got you a present."

Chad pointed to the small package on the table in front of Troy. Troy looked down and smiled. He leaned forward, picked up the package, and opened it.

He pulled out a small, grey action figure. A wide grin spread across his face.

"Aw, thundercats." He sighed, happily. "I used to love them when I was a kid. Panthro was my favourite."

"I know." Chad smiled. "I thought it was perfect for you."

"Thanks Chad."

"You're kinda like a thundercat yourself." Chad grinned. "After all… you're half wildcat… half thunderbird."

"Ahh, thundercat." Troy grinned stupidly. He approached Chad and pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks. That was really thoughtful."

Chad smiled to himself.

---------

A week later, Troy and Chad were hanging out together, almost as if nothing had happened.

They were sat in Chad's dorm room. Chad was sat at his desk, half-heartedly trying to tap out an assignment on his laptop, while Troy was reclined back on Chad's bed.

"Can't believe you don't have a room mate. Sweet."

Chad turned round, and shrugged.

"It's part of the experience though, isn't it." Chad mused. "When I lived with Jake, he'd make me go out to parties, but now I'm too lazy, and no one's here to convince me."

"I guess." Troy laughed. "There are some serious advantages though."

"Yeah. I can walk around naked." Chad grinned.

"Dude." Troy threw Chad a look of disgust. "Anyway, what if you wanna bring a girl back?" Troy grinned and raised his eyebrows. "No one else to get in the way…"

"True, true." Chad smiled and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what about you? You're single now. But living with your parents…"

Troy shrugged.

"I'm not exactly ready to put myself out there." Troy rubbed the back of his neck. "And when I am…" Troy drifted off, ending his sentence without completing it.

"What?!" Chad asked with great enthusiasm. "Is there a guy?!"

"Guess Gabi didn't tell you everything, then." Troy grinned to himself, but shaking his head.

"Unless it's… Oh my god, it's not Ryan is it?"

"No, no. He's just a good friend."

"So, tell me!"

Troy sighed, and laughed slightly.

"Fine! Well, I met him, I guess, just as I was coming to terms with being gay. In fact… meeting him made me realise I was for sure."

"He must be special." Chad grinned to his friend.

"I… guess…" Troy shrugged. "He's sweet. I spent all that day with him. He told me he was gay, and that he thought I was cute." Troy smiled to himself, remembering the day. "I went back to his apartment…"

Chad raised his eyebrows, an amused grin spreading across his face.

"And nothing happened!" Troy finished, noticing Chad's expression. "I told him I had a girlfriend and I left. He then sent me a note saying call him when I was ready, with his number below it."

"Well, he sounds very nice."

"He is." Troy said proudly. "He's… probably forgotten all about me."

"How did you guys even meet?"

"He spoke to me in Starbucks. He's a Thunderbirds fan."

"Does he come and watch?"

"Pretty regularly, yeah."

"Then he's not gonna forget, is he?" Chad grinned.

"I guess not. But JP could get any guy he wants. He's not gonna wait for a screwed up little boy."

"JP?" Chad grinned. "Trendy name."

Troy shrugged, grinned and rolled his eyes, all at the same time.

"His name is Jack. I asked him if I could call him JP, because otherwise it's a bit weird."

"Gotcha."

Troy smiled, and stared out the window for a second or two. He pulled out his phone and started to type a text.

"You couldn't resist, could you?" Chad laughed.

"I'm texting Ryan, actually."

'hey.' He typed. 'how are u? hanging out with chad in his dorm. Things feel like they did before. Awesome.'

Just a minute later, he received a reply.

'great! See, gay's not the end of the world. Call JP. x'

"Agh!" Troy mumbled.

"What?!" Chad threw his arms in the air dramatically.

"Ryan's telling me to call JP."

"That means it's the right thing to do." Chad said softly, in a slight mocking voice.

"Leave me alone."

-------

And two days later, Troy spotted JP in the crowd at a game. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe it was… well, one thing was for sure, it was JP. He was here, where Troy was.

Troy observed JP. He probably wouldn't be accessible during half-time, not like last time. He was sitting right in the middle of a crowd. He'd have to try and escape pretty quickly after the game, and hope to catch him leaving. But at the same time… not seem needy.

He managed to escape pretty quickly, but he feared not quickly enough. Still dressed in his basketball uniform, he dashed out into the foyer and scanned the crowd.

He forgot, really, that he was still in his uniform and this crowd had just been to see him play. He was constantly being approached, being told he played well, and that they enjoyed the game. Which he appreciated, but he really needed to find JP.

As the foyer started to empty, Troy was getting increasingly annoyed. JP must have dashed out of there so fast…

"Troy?" A familiar voice came from behind.

"Hey!" Troy turned around, and beamed at the man in front of him.

"Great game."

"Thanks." Troy smiled. "Uh… I came to find you. Can we talk?"

"Sure."

Troy led JP back into the arena and the two sat down, courtside.

"I, uh…" Troy nervously rubbed the back of his neck and bit his lip. "Guess you should know. I… came out." Troy told JP, whispering.

"Oh…" JP nodded, with a smile. "Good for you, Troy."

Troy looked at JP, locking eyes, and he beamed.

"Thanks. I was gonna call you, but…" Troy shrugged as JP looked at the floor. "I guess I wasn't ready."

JP looked up, wringing his hands together.

"And… what about now?"

"I… I don't know." Troy sighed. "I don't know how to know if I'm ready."

"How about you go and get changed, and we go for coffee and try and figure it out."

"Sounds like a deal." Troy smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

JP and Troy were sat, in the same Starbucks in which they had met.

"So…" JP cleared his throat. "How did… everyone take it?"

"My girlfriend freaked out… for about five minutes… but then she was okay with it. She understands. She found it hard to let go though."

"Poor girl." JP said quietly. "It can't be easy to hear."

"Yeah." Troy nodded, rubbing his face. "My Mom was fine about it too, but my best friend, Chad, freaked out a little. Gabriella brought him round. And my Dad…" Troy let out a bitter laugh. "Think he's still in the freaking out process."

"It will all be fine. Sounds like it went relatively smoothly."

"Ugh. I suppose it could have been a lot worse."

"I take it you haven't told the team."

"No." Troy raised his eyebrows. "And I do not intend to."

JP smiled sympathetically.

"I don't blame you." JP sighed as he started to flick through a magazine that had been left on the table. "But if they find out, it's gonna be awful."

"I know." Troy looked down, not wanting to talk about the subject he blocked out of his mind. "I've gotta be extra careful."

"Uh…" JP said, frowning. "Did you say your girlfriend's name is Gabriella?"

"Ex - Yeah." Troy said quietly.

"Montez?"

"Yeah…" Troy said, looking down at the magazine in JP's hands.

"You never said she was famous." JP looked at Troy with raised eyebrows. "Wow. 'My boyfriend, Troy, is very supportive.' Says Gabriella. 'He's my soul mate.'"

Troy was looking out the window when JP looked up.

"I guess I have something else to tell you." Troy said quietly. "I wasn't keeping this from you, I swear, I just forgot it was relevant. And I can't exactly tell many people. But you should know."

"What? That she's famous?"

"We…" Troy swung his chair round to JP's side and whispered quietly. "We're pretending to still be together. For the press. For the sake of both our careers." Troy sighed, moved his chair back to opposite JP, and rested his head in his hands.

JP stayed silent.

"Messed it up again, didn't I?" Troy sighed. "I'm sorry. Guess it's not a case of whether I'm ready. It's whether anyone is ready to get involved in my twisted life."

"It's not that bad." JP sighed. "I guess if anything happened, it would have to be secret anyway, if you aren't telling the team. Since you're a small time celebrity around here by now anyway."

"I am?" Troy grinned, and then frowned. "Wait, small time? Hello?" Troy picked up the magazine and pointed to it.

"Whatever." JP laughed. "So… how about we go to my apartment. Then we can stop whispering?"

"Sure." Troy laughed.

----------------

Troy looked around him. It was weird being back here. Last time he was here, he was at the height of confusion. He sipped on his take-out mocha. He started to think maybe he was becoming addicted to this drink. He laughed to himself when he wondered if maybe it was a symbol of his new-found sexuality.

He took his vibrating phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, and took in the familiar sight that was receiving a text from Ryan.

'Hey Bolton, how's life in the gay lane x'

'I'm at JP's. So life in the gay lane is… quite gay.x"

Troy put his phone away as JP walked back into the room.

"So." He smiled, putting a plate of cookies down on the table. "I mean, how serious were you and Gabriella, 'soul mate'?"

"Pretty serious. Three years. We lived together."

"Oh. Gosh. I assume one of you have moved out."

"I moved out. Only recently though. I'm now back with my parents." Troy sighed.

"Your parents? That's rough."

Troy laughed and picked up a cookie.

"It's not that bad."

-------------

"Your friends go to Julliard? I used to date someone who goes there."

"Please, tell me it wasn't Ryan Evans."

"No, but I'm sure I know that name." JP thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I met the Evans family a few summers ago. I had a summer job at Lava Springs County Club."

"No way!" Troy laughed. "So did I. 2007."

"I did 2006! Small world, huh."

"I know. How much of a pain is Fulton?!"

"He's not that bad." JP laughed. "Now Sharpay, she's a pain."

"God, that girl got on my nerves. The amount of times she tried to break me and Gabriella up." Troy grinned. "I wonder if Ryan's told her I'm gay. I hope not, I'd love to see her face."

"So would I." JP laughed.

Troy laughed and shook his head, sighing.

"Small world."

"I nearly went back." JP laughed to himself. "The next year."

"We would've met." Troy said thoughtfully. He threw his head back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "Wonder what would've happened."

JP looked at Troy and laughed. He grinned at him.

"What?"

"Nothing, just… your face." He grinned. "Deep in thought."

"It's just strange! I really wonder what would've happened."

"Yeah." JP smiled. "Lava Springs has lots of places to get up to all sorts."

"I know, I did!" Troy laughed as JP raised his eyebrows.

"Naughty boy, huh?"

"Yeah, I wasn't good as being naughty though, we got caught like, all the time."

"Let's hope your little… big secret goes better then."

"Secrets, I can keep!"

"I have a secret."

"Oh?" Troy asked, worriedly thinking that he thought they'd got everything in the open.

"You're cute." JP grinned.

"Oh!" Troy laughed as he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's… not a secret, JP."

"You're so cheeky." JP smiled sweetly at Troy. "Hey, you said before you used to sing, right?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna give me a rendition?" JP grinned.

"Nope."

"Aww!" JP laughed. "Did you ever do any dancing?"

"A little bit, not much though. I learned the Waltz, that was… Well, I can't believe I learned it."

"The Waltz, huh?!" JP grinned, standing up. "Show me what you got."

Troy looked up at JP, and laughed.

"You dance?!"

"Yeah. I always took dance class when I was younger. It kinda faded out when I started High School. I didn't think it was manly enough."

Troy grinned and rolled his eyes. He stood up.

"I'm nervous now. What if I don't remember?"

"God, Troy. If you mess up, it doesn't matter. Calm down."

Troy blushed slightly. He put his hands up, but didn't know where to put them.

"Uh…" Troy shrugged. "Should I…"

"You lead, if that's how you know now."

"Okay."

Troy put his left hand on JP's waist, and clasped his hand in his own. He felt a little sweat starting to form on his forehead.

As Troy started to take his first steps, he smiled to himself as the steps flowed through him out into his feet. Until he took a wrong step, crushing JP's toes underneath his own.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay." JP smiled. "You're not bad."

"Yeah right." Troy sighed.

"You have grace! That's why you're such a great B-Ball player."

Troy smiled.

"Thanks." Troy said quietly, face just inches from JP's. "You're not so bad yourself."

JP brought his hand up and gently touched Troy's cheek.

"Soft skin as well, huh?" JP grinned. "Starting to think Troy Bolton is a little too perfect."

"That's not actually the first time I've been told that." Troy grinned back. He kissed JP's hand.

JP moved his hand to Troy's neck, and pulled his head closer to his own. He stared into Troy's eyes, as he brought his lips in to meet Troy's.

He watched Troy's eyes flutter closed, just before his own eyes did the same. He let out a small contented sigh, before pulling away.

"Jeez." He rolled his eyes, as he spoke quietly. "Even your kiss is perfect."

"Yup." Troy nodded.

"And your eyes." JP continued.

"Yeah…"

"Your hair…" JP whispered as he ran his hand through Troy's hair. He kissed Troy again, entwining his fingers in the mop of hair.

Troy's heart was beating wildly, as he started to feel a little overwhelmed. It felt a little strange to be kissing a guy, especially after three years of kissing Gabriella everyday. He broke the kiss and took a breath.

"You okay, Troy?"

"Yeah." Troy nodded. "Yeah." He repeated, grinning. "It's just a little… weird. In an awesome way…"

JP grinned at him.

"I guess I probably kiss differently than your girlfriend did."

Troy shrugged.

"Her beard never used to tickle me as much."

JP shook his head, laughing.

"I bet she'd kill you if she heard you say that."

"She probably would, yeah." Troy grinned. He glanced over at JP's clock. "I probably should go."

"Right. You've gotta behave now you're back with Mommy and Daddy."

"It's so true. My Mom's probably waiting up for me."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" JP smiled.

"you can walk me to my truck. It's parked, like, right by Starbucks."

"Oh." JP grinned. "Okay, sure."

As the two walked the relatively empty streets of East Albuquerque, JP thought to himself about what Troy was currently going through. He remembered back to when he had just come out, and the whole world was his oyster.

"You look deep in thought." Troy laughed.

"I was just remembering back to when I came out." JP smiled.

Troy coughed and put his finger to his lips.

"You never know who's listening." Troy said, looking around him paranoid.

"Where did you learn to be so cynical?"

"From jealous friends videoing you saying things you don't mean. And from Sharpay Evans. In general."

"Okay, I see." JP raised his eyebrows and laughed to himself.

"So…" Troy said, quietly. "What exactly were you thinking about?"

"About how I was so eager to get out there, and live as the person I now knew I was. Do you feel like that?"

"I guess, kinda…" Troy nodded. "But at the same time.. I'm nervous. About being me. That sounds silly."

"No, I know what you mean."

Troy stopped walking as he approached a beat up truck.

"This is my truck." Troy said, sounding rather ashamed.

"It's….nice."

I'll give you a call soon." Troy smiled, unlocking his truck.

"I guess…" JP whispered, moving in close to Troy, "There's no chance of a goodnight kiss."

"Absolutely not. But I'll mentally do it. There, I just did. That's something for you to think about tonight."

"Troy." JP laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Night."

"Take care, Troy. Drive safe."


	17. Chapter 17

Troy wondered when was too soon to call JP. It was two days later, and he was itching to call. JP didn't have Troy's number, so it's not as if he could have called first. Troy was nervous and his fretting was irritating him.

He finally picked up his phone, and before he could let himself change his mind, he dialled the number and quickly pressed call.

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Troy."

"Troy, hi."

"How's it going?"

"Okay. Um… Troy I don't know really how to say this."

"What is it? JP?" Troy's heart sank. Couldn't he have anything?

"I don't think I can cope with this. This secret… your famous girlfriend… It's just not what I do."

"JP, where is this coming from? You seemed fine last night."

Troy heard JP sigh. There was a pause.

"Troy, one of those… paparazzi guys followed me home."

"Oh my god, what?!"

"He asked me how I knew you, and he was trying to get all sorts out of me. I'm sorry Troy, I just can't deal with that kind of thing."

"But…." Troy started, but sighed. "I understand. It's not fair to ask you to deal with that crap. I'm sorry, JP."

"I'm sorry too, Troy." He sighed. "Maybe one day, huh?"

"Yeah. It's a shame."

"I'll see you at a game sometime."

"Yeah." Troy smiled, half-heartedly.

"I'm sorry to have to do this over the phone, Troy."

"I'm sorry I got you stalked."

JP giggled.

"Bye Troy."

"Bye."

Troy let out a huge sigh, made of more breath than he even knew he could hold. Just as he thought things were starting to fall into place, the paparazzi go and ruin it all. Already. He was barely even famous. Troy needed to let off steam. He ended up doing the inevitable.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ry."

"Troy, how's it going?"

"The damn paparazzi are trying to ruin my life! Ruin it!"

Troy explained, angrily, the whole story to Ryan.

"Troy, I'm sorry, that sucks." Ryan sighed. "I guess it comes with the territory of being famous. I mean, being the boyfriend of someone famous. Although you are… well, you know what I mean."

"Yeah. I guess."

"We need to go out, dude. You got any games near me anytime soon?"

Troy checked his game schedule.

"I got Pennsylvania in… two weeks, Friday."

"Hm… oh! There's a big party happening on campus. You should come… might help take your mind off things…"

"I doubt it. I dunno, man."

"Come on! Why don't you bring Chad, too. I'm sure he can miss a little bit of college."

"Well… I'll ask him."

"He'll love it. Being surrounded by a hundred gay men."

Troy couldn't help but grin at the thought of Chad being amongst so many gay men.

"I must admit, that helps."

------------

"You want me to go to Pennsylvania with you?!"

"Yeah, and then to New York to see Ryan. Have you ever been to New York?"

"No…" Chad sighed, starting to sound tempted. "But dude, I mean, I'm gonna be the only straight guy at this party."

"Not necessarily. Anyway - think about all those dancers there, surrounded day in, day out, with gay men. They'll be itching to get their hands on a straight man."

"Girls like Sharpay?!" Chad's eyes widened in slight horror.

"No, man, girls whose whole life has been dancing. Their bodies don't even know what untoned means."

"Okay, okay, fine, I'll go."

Troy grinned as he flipped open his phone to text Ryan, and let him know.

"So how are you doing, man?" Chad tentatively asked Troy. "After… what happened with JP."

"Not bad." Troy shrugged. "I… we hadn't really spent that much time together. We didn't really know each other that well. So… I guess he wasn't in my life enough to really make me feel the loss." Troy shrugged again. "I do miss him though."

"Sorry, man."

"It's okay. I have to accept my life in changing. In many ways. D-League, sexuality, Gabriella's fame. Guess I'm gonna have a lot of growing up to do."

"I guess so."

-------------------

A week later, Chad was visiting the Bolton household. He was playing one on one with Troy, and really couldn't believe how improved Troy's game was. Chad felt it increasingly difficult to keep up.

He finally gave up and collapsed on the grass next to Troy's basketball court. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and blinked hard, as sweat had crept into his eyes.

"Argh, it stings."

"What does?" Troy grinned, collapsing next to him.

"This sweat. Man, your game is hot."

"Well, I am a professional."

The two stared silently into the blue sky, wincing from the sunlight.

"I'm nervous about this party."

"What party?" Troy asked. "Oh, Julliard? It's weird that I nearly went there."

"Nearly?" Chad laughed. "'Nearly' is how close you came to coming to U of A."

"Okay, okay. I can't believe I thought of going there."

"Are you gonna leave me? Are you gonna hook up with some guy and leave me, alone, and out of my depth in a strange city? Surrounded by hot dancers and scores of gay men?"

Troy turned to his best friend, wide eyed and raised eyebrows.

"Calm down. I doubt I'm gonna hook up with anyone." Troy laughed.

"Good."

"Anyway, you're gonna know three of us. Me, Ryan, and Sharpay."

"Great!!!" Chad shouted.

Troy laughed, and sat up as he spotted his Mom bringing some lunch out for the both of them.

"Thanks, Mom!" Troy smiled, and sighed. "I feel like a kid again, now."

"Why?" Chad asked.

"Don't you remember, when we'd just started high school, and we used to play basketball here on a Sunday. And my Mom would bring us lunch."

"I remember." Troy's Mom smiled. "I thought it would be a nice touch."

"Thanks, Mom." Troy warmly smiled up at his mother.

"Yeah." Chad smiled at Troy's Mom, and then back at Troy. "I remember."

"I miss being a kid."

------

"_Chad! Chad!" Troy yelled. "Gimme my ball back!"_

_A little Troy went chasing after his big-haired best friend around the court. At the age of 7, Troy was starting to realise maybe it would be cool to play basketball once he was a grown-up. Like those tall guys on the TV._

_Troy finally caught up with Chad, and got him in a head lock. Chad screamed like there was no tomorrow, until Troy finally let him go._

"_Asshole!" Chad shouted at Troy._

"_Hey!" Troy's Dad, Jack, yelled as he emerged from the house. "Chad, who taught you that word?"_

"_My Mommy called my Daddy it when she was mad."_

"_Try not to use it again."_

_Chad frowned in confusion, and Troy shrugged. Troy's Mom emerged from the house, plate full of sandwiches and chips, and two glasses of juice._

"_Lunch is up, boys."_

"_Thanks, Mommy." Both boys chimed._

"_You're welcome, my little men."_

_Troy rolled his eyes to Chad when his Mom had started to walk off._

"_She's so embarrassing!" He whined._

"_Your parents are cool!" Chad replied. "They never shout, they look at each other in that funny way where they always smile."_

"_That's called LOVE, Chad." Troy laughed._

_Chad pouted, and stayed silent for a minute, thinking._

"_I don't get love." He sighed._

"_Well…" Troy thought to himself for a moment. "Remember when you came with us on holiday? You didn't see your Mom for a week. At the end, you missed her so much that you cried."_

"_Shut up!" Chad growled._

"_Listen. You missed her because you love her. And when you saw her again, the feeling you felt was love."_

"_Oh…" Chad started to get it. "Like how I feel when she gives me a cookie."_

"_Kinda."_

_Troy stood up and started to bounce his basketball, and he threw it. It met the hoop in one gliding motion._

"_I love basketball." He told Chad._

_------_

Troy finished his lunch, and stood up. He picked up his basketball, bounced it a couple of times, and threw it towards the hoop. It flew though in one, swift motion.

"I love basketball." Troy grinned to Chad.

"I love my Mom." Chad grinned back, understanding the reference.

------

**A short one, but really wanted to post it. It's gonna start to get good (uh, depending on your opinion of course). Hope you enjoyed the little Chad and Troy.**


	18. Chapter 18

This chapter is actually kinda Chad-centric. You'll see why. I thought I'd post this now because the last chapter was so short, and I thought I'd cut to the chase and post quite a defining chapter. Let me know what you think. I might not have another update until Wednesday but then again I probably will. Lol.

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Chad was nervous when the day came to leave for Pennsylvania. He hadn't exactly been far outside of Albuquerque in his life. It may have only been Pennsylvania and New York, but he felt like he was going to a whole other planet.

He sat, awkwardly, on the plane with Troy. Chad had never even flown before, and he was very nervous, especially knowing that Troy hated flying too.

Troy, however, had become somewhat accustomed to the perils of flying, and even though he was still always a little nervous, he could pretty much get through a flight with hardly any trouble.

It turned out, Chad enjoyed flying. He stared out the window, like a child, for the majority of the journey. He enjoyed, and kept, his little bottle of water he was given and he loved his snack bag of pretzels.

He loved watching Troy play, he didn't manage to make it to too many games back in Albuquerque. The Thunderbirds won, leaving a very happy Troy and probably an equally happy Chad.

And the next day, the both of them boarded a train for Manhattan.

Manhattan was like nothing Chad had ever seen. So many bright lights, so many tall buildings so close together. As much as he still felt like he was on another planet, he kind of felt like he'd finally come home.

"This is amazing." Chad gasped to Troy.

"I knew you'd love it." Troy laughed. "Maybe you should have gone to Julliard."

"Not a chance."

Troy laughed, as the two of them made their way to check in to the hotel they were staying in that night. It was just the other side of Central Park to Juilliard. When they were done, Ryan met them outside the hotel and took them over to the party.

"Oh my goodness…" Chad said, wide eyed, at the house spilling over with people.

"Wild, huh?" Ryan laughed.

"Look at those girls, Chad." Troy laughed, digging his elbow into Chad's ribs.

"Girls, Troy?" Ryan grinned.

"I think it was the deciding factor for somebody."

Chad was now grinning. He was in this awesome city and now he was about to party with a number of awesome girls. This was gonna be… awesome.

--------

An hour later, and the drink was well and truly flowing. The three boys were stood at the bar, when Troy decided he needed to dance.

Chad stood at the bar, watching Troy and Ryan dance. He couldn't help admire his friends. Not too long ago, Troy was in emotional turmoil and back in the early days of high school Ryan went through a hell of a lot regarding his sexuality. And now, here they were, dancing happily like there were no troubles in the world. Carefree.

"Hey." Troy panted, smiling to Chad. "Come dance."

"Oh, uh… I dunno." Chad shrugged at his visibly drunk friend.

"C'mon." Troy tugged at Chad's hand, until Chad gave in and rolled his eyes. He followed his friend out onto the dance floor.

He felt so awkward. He tried to copy Troy's moves but, since he was nowhere near as drunk, he felt really stupid.

"Dude!" Troy laughed, moving closer to Chad.

Troy placed his hands on Chad's hips. He moved his own closer in.

"You gotta sway your hips."

Troy swayed his hips, moving Chad's at the same time. Chad, at first, couldn't work out how to even sway his hips. He was hardly a dancer, and his body just didn't flow smoothly. Until Troy's hands were guiding him. He took a breath, and relaxed in his grip.

"There you go, man." Troy smiled, moving in even closer to him.

"This feels good." Chad grinned, excited at his new found dancing ability.

"Yeah." Troy smiled. "You know, Chad… Turns out, you're a really sexy dancer."

"Really?" Chad said, looking at Troy's smiling eyes.

This was pretty weird for Chad. He had just seemed to suddenly gain the ability to loosen up and… dance. Maybe he had the ability all along but it had just been unleashed. He felt good. No - great. He felt full of energy and excitement.

All this dancing in the heat of the party was making Chad sweat. Coupled with the eyes, locked in his own, the heat started to become unbearable.

"Oh, yeah." Troy grinned, and took one hand off of Chad's hip to sweep his hair back to the side. He placed it straight back onto Chad's hip.

Chad gulped. This was scary. But if it was anything he'd learned today, it was to be yourself and let the moment take you.

This was the reasoning he gave himself for doing what he did next.

He looked at Troy, who was grinning back at him. He took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, and pressed his lips against Troy's.

Chad couldn't even believe himself what he was doing. But he was doing it. And boy, it felt good. It felt almost like he was exhaling after a lifetime of holding his breath. At that moment, he felt better than he had in years. It felt right. Yet - wrong.

Troy brought his right hand up, and placed it on top of Chad's hair. His left hand went to the shoulder, ran down, settling on Chad's bicep.

Troy suddenly broke away from Chad. He glanced, open mouthed, at a stunned Ryan.

"Oh my god…" Troy rubbed his head. He suddenly felt painfully sober.


	19. Chapter 19

Merry Christmas!!! And thanks for the nice reviews. I'm glad I have readers who are enjoying this, hehe. I hope you enjoy this one. And I should have another one soon. I'm writing it right now. Enjoy and happy holidays. x

* * *

"Wait…" Troy rubbed his head again. "What was that?"

"I, um…" Chad was lost for words. "Just wanted to…"

"Let's talk outside." A visibly shaken up Troy told Chad.

The two left the house, and propped themselves up against a wall.

"Chad, I…" Troy shook his head. "I'm really sorry."

"Why are you sorry?!" Chad asked. "I kissed you."

"Chad… why did you kiss me?"

"I just… felt like it."

"You felt like it?" Troy asked, standing up straight. "You felt like it?! Chad, listen, I know you were finding it difficult at a party surrounded by gay guys but… doesn't mean you have to act gay…"

"I just…"

"I dunno if you feel left out, or… something. But what, now, you're gay, just to fit in, to be cool?!"

"Troy! How could you even…"

"Dude."

Chad felt something brewing up inside of him. He turned around, and ran as fast as he could. Where to, he didn't know. Heck, he didn't even know this city. But he ran, and ran.

-----------------

Troy nervously paced around just outside check-in. When he'd arrived back at the hotel the night before, all of Chad's luggage was gone. And he'd not seen him since he'd run off. He had absolutely no clue whether or not Chad was going to turn up for this flight. He probably didn't want to see Troy. But for all Troy knew, he could have got an earlier flight, or he could even be lying in a ditch somewhere.

Troy sighed, giving in, and checked his baggage in. Taking one more look around the airport, just in case, he sighed and made his way to departures.

An hour later, Troy was sat on the plane, empty seat next to him. He gazed out of the window, elbow on the armrest and chin balanced on his palm.

He felt a thud next to him, and he turned to see, to his delight, Chad sulking in the seat next to him.

"Hey, Chad…" Troy smiled nervously.

"Don't… even bother."

Troy unconsciously pouted, and stared at the seat in front of him. He shot a few glances towards Chad, who was similarly staring at the seat in front of him, looking pretty angry.

"Where did you go, last night?" Troy quietly asked Chad.

"As if it matters to you."

"Chad…" Troy sighed with a frown.

"I can't believe you." Chad spat, harshly but quietly. "I can't believe what low regard you hold me in."

"What?" A confused Troy scratched his head, frowning. "Do you mean…"

"I mean, I can't believe how low you think of me. That you think I'd do that just to fit in, or be cool."

"Sorry." Troy quietly said, looking down to the floor.

He clenched his eyes shut as the plane started to move. He rubbed his face, unable to believe he'd brought upon himself yet another stress.

Chad said not another word, until they were well in the air.

"I can't believe you." Chad sighed, quite randomly.

"Chad. I am sorry. I already said."

Chad glanced, unconvinced.

"Chad…" Troy sighed. "I just don't understand. What happened back there?"

Chad self-consciously glanced around him.

"I just wanted to do it." Chad said at a low volume. "I just wanted to let go. So… I wanted to do it, so I did it. Is that a crime?"

"But, I mean… you're practically my brother." Troy shook his head. "How could you want to…"

"God, Troy, I don't know." Chad dramatically shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Why is this whole thing so hard for you to accept?"

"Because I don't understand."

"Me neither!" Chad shook his head. "Was it really that bad?!"

Troy's face flushed a shade of red, causing Chad to raise his eyebrows.

"Well, it was, uh…" Troy stammered. "I mean, no. The kiss itself didn't freak me out it's the situation surrounding it."

"Uh huh…." Chad frowned, observing Troy desperately trying to return his face to it's natural colour.

"What?!" Troy's effort was in vain when he returned to red, noticing Chad watching him.

"Nothing."

---------------

A few days later, and Gabriella had arranged for Troy and Chad to join her at her apartment, to hang out.

Neither Troy or Chad had even so much as mentioned the trip to New York to anyone. Not even Gabriella. Not even each other. And this would be the first time they'd spoken since awkwardly drifting apart from each other at the airport, once they'd landed.

When Troy arrived, he turned bright red and tensed up when he noticed Chad had already arrived. He muttered an awkward greeting to his friend, who looked equally awkward. A confused Gabriella left the room to get the boys some drinks.

When she returned, the two men were still rigidly sat in the exact same positions they were sat in when she left the room. They hadn't said a single word to each other.

"Well this is gonna be fun…" Gabriella sighed, flopping down on the couch next to Chad. "What's with you guys?"

"Nothing." They both mumbled, slightly in time with each other.

Gabriella paused for a moment, looking from Chad to Troy, and back again.

"Okay…." She shook her head. "Hmm… did something happen in New York?"

There was a vague mumble from both parties of 'no', 'of course not', 'nothing happened'.

"Right." Gabriella nodded. "Maybe I ask Ryan?"

The two stayed silent. When Gabriella wasn't looking Troy slipped his phone out of his pocket and started tapping into it.

Gabriella snapped her head round to look at him.

"Oh my gosh! You guys! Fine, don't tell me." She sighed. "I'll find out."

------------------

At the end of the night, when all three of them started to get tired, things had got a bit better. Chad and Troy had spoken a little bit, nothing very significant, and by midnight, Gabriella had fallen asleep with her head on Chad's lap.

Troy glanced at Chad awkwardly.

"Should we take her upstairs?"

"I dunno. Maybe we should wake her up, I'm sitting quite awkwardly so if I move she'd wake up anyway."

"I'll pick her up."

Troy got out of his chair, flipping Gabriella onto her back from where she was lay on her side. He tucked his left arm under her back, his upper arm supporting her neck, and ushering his right arm under her legs. He pulled her off of Chad, and made his way up to her room.

When he came back down, Chad had his coat on.

"So I guess I should go."

"Wait, Chad… should we talk about this?"

Chad stopped, and shrugged.

"I'm not sure there's anything to talk about, Troy." He sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… you're gonna say that you don't understand. And I'll say that I don't either. What's to talk about?"

Troy nodded, shrugging.

"Well…" Troy started. "How do you… feel? Does it… bother you?"

"What?" Chad asked. "The fact that I kissed a guy. I guess, a little. Doesn't make me gay though, right?"

"Right." Troy said, not actually really knowing.

"Two of my best friends are gay, I don't have a girlfriend, it just… doesn't bother me. Is that weird?"

Troy shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess I just don't understand. Because of what I just went through."

"That makes sense." Chad reassured Troy. "You had a lot more at stake."

"You're really not bothered about the whole thing?"

"No." Chad shrugged. "Watching you guys… I just felt like… If I wanna do something, I should do it. And… then, I did it."

"So…" Troy shrugged, looking down. "You would do it again?"

A small spread across an amused Chad's face.

"What, kiss a guy?" He grinned.

"Um… yeah. Or.. Me."

"If I wanted to. Yeah."

Chad purposely stared out the window, avoiding Troy's eyes. He smiled to himself as he felt Troy staring at him.

"So, yeah…" Chad nodded. "I'd better go. Got class in the morning."

He stood up, walked over to where Troy was just standing up, and smiled.

"I'm glad we had this chat." he pulled Troy into a hug, and, to Troy's total surprise (and, frankly, his own) he kissed him on the cheek, before pulling away.

"Bye." Chad winked at Troy, and left the apartment.


	20. Chapter 20

**Merry Christmas!!! Hope you're all having a good day so far, it's 11am and I've just woken up, six hours after the time I used to when I was a kid... aw. I finished this chapter last night so I thought I'd update it first thing. Enjoy!! x**

* * *

Troy… didn't know what to think. For a few days now, he'd been thinking about Chad. Well, about the kiss, about Chad not caring, and Chad saying he'd do it again. Troy felt confused, yet again. He had just come to terms with being gay, and now his best friend of something like 16 years, had kissed him. And might have even been flirting with him. And now Troy felt strange. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know how he felt.

He wondered if he should tell Gabriella, on the way to their fourth movie premiere. He decided that he'd work out what was going on for himself, before talking to anyone new about it.

"You okay, baby?" Gabriella asked Troy, putting her hand on his knee.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." He smiled.

"You thinking about JP?" She smiled knowingly, causing Troy to raise his eyebrows.

"Not quite." He smiled at her. "It's… somebody else. But I'll tell you about it when I know for myself what's going on. It's… complicated."

He smiled kindly at Gabriella, as she slowly nodded, frowning. He was then a bit worried when her frown disappeared, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping open.

"Oh my god…." She whispered.

"Gabs…"

"The other day… you guys were.. And New York…"

"Gabs, he's not…"

"You HAVE to tell me what happened." A grinning Gabriella insisted to Troy.

"Oh, look, we're here. What a shame." He shrugged as the car pulled up.

----------------

Troy was so irritated at himself. He wished he could stop thinking about Chad. The dude was his best friend, and not someone he should even be looking at in that way. And why his heart jumped out of his body when he saw Chad's name on his caller ID, he would never know.

"Hello?"

"Hey Troy." Chad said with an audible grin.

"Chad. Hi, man. What's up?"

"Nothing." Chad sighed in a slight sing-song pitch. "Just bored. And lonely."

"Oh, that's cool…" Troy said, trying to think of some more vague, casual things to talk about. "Did you catch the game last night?"

"Yeah…" Chad answered, a little annoyed that Troy didn't seem to be taking his bait. "It was awesome."

"Oh, so," Troy said with a little more enthusiasm, thinking of a question he actually wanted to ask, "Did you get in trouble for missing classes when we were in New York?"

"A little, yeah…" Chad sighed. "But it was definitely worth it."

Great, he'd turned it back round. Troy silently cursed himself.

"Uh, so, great talking to you, but I should go. I have a game later and I should… Yeah. But I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay, Troy, see you soon."

"Later, man."

Troy hung up the phone, and shook his head. He knew Chad. So why couldn't he work him out? Was he flirting? Well, yes, he was. He must've been. But was he just messing about? It was probably the kind of thing Chad would do…

Troy leapt up off of his bed, and went to shoot some hoops in his back yard. He figured he was too confused to do anything else.

---------------

When Troy had finished his game, he left the locker room to see Chad standing just outside.

"Chad! Hi."

"Great game."

"You were here?!" Troy widened his eyes. "Well, I… thanks for coming."

"You're welcome." He grinned. "You wanna go for pizza?"

"Sure." Troy grinned. "How did you even get back here?"

Chad grinned.

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"Whatever. You're just scared I'll get them to tighten security."

"Yeah, then how would I sneak in to perv on the cheerleaders?"

Troy gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah… so where do you wanna go for pizza?"

"Saggio's?" Chad suggested. Troy violently shook his head.

"Uh.. No." he looked at Chad, who was asking with his expression. "Me and JP used to go there."

"Ah. Pizza hut then?"

"Sounds safe to me."

----------------

At Pizza Hut, Chad had been the same old Chad. Mixed in with a helping of good new Chad. He was still the best friend Troy knew and loved, but with a healthy dose of flirting thrown in which didn't exactly make Troy uncomfortable, but just quite confused.

Troy was… honest. Especially to himself. He prided himself on that. So, he could admit to himself that Chad was quite an attractive man. But, personally, did he feel attracted to him? No, no, of course not. They were practically brothers. It would be wrong, morally wrong. So he told himself, anyway.

Ringing, at the back of his mind, was something that Chad had said. Something about letting go and just doing what you wanted to do. But it wasn't always that easy. Troy didn't even know what he wanted - yet again. He was getting kind of bored now, of not knowing even himself.

He decided to finally give in - and talk to Gabriella.

"Oh my god!" She screamed, when Troy came to the conclusion of the story. "If you guys got together, it would be so amazing."

"Gabriella…" Troy sighed. "C'mon. I need your help here!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. Well, maybe he enjoyed the experience more than he's letting on. Or maybe he feels liberated by what happened. You know what I think?" Gabriella smiled. "I think you should talk to him. C'mon, you guys have been friends forever. You know you can talk to him."

"I… guess…" Troy shrugged. "But if he's acting so… like he doesn't want me to know what he's thinking, then he's not likely to answer any of my questions."

"Maybe." Gabriella mused, rubbing her chin as she gazed up towards the ceiling.

"What are you thinking?!"

-------------

"Hey Chad!"

"Uh, hey!" Chad stood aside to let Gabriella in, pulling a confused face at the back of her head, wondering why she was here, at his college, in his dorm room.

"How's it going?" she shrugged, picking up some baseball magazine, and flicking through the pages.

"Good…" Chad answered, sitting on his desk chair. "What's up, Gab?"

"I'm not disturbing anything, am I?" Gabriella smiled innocently.

"Not at all! It's just… you've never come to visit me before…"

"I was lonely." She said with a grin. "So anyway, what's going on with you and Troy? You guys have been acting pretty weird recently…"

Chad laughed, nodding to himself. He now knew why she was here.

"Nothing, really. Why?" Chad answered innocently.

"Oh, no, nothing…." She smiled. "I just… I heard a rumour… that you two kissed…"

"Right, yeah, a rumour, huh?"

"And I was wondering how you felt about it all." Gabriella nodded.

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Fine!"

Gabriella frowned in frustration.

"I also heard a rumour that you may have been flirting with him…"

"Those gossips. You should never listen to rumours, Gabi."

"Chad!" She shouted, unable to take playing the game anymore. "What's going on? Please tell me."

Chad laughed and rolled his eyes.

"I dunno, Gab. I felt like kissing him, so I did. I feel like flirting with him, so I do. Nothing's going on, it's just… I do what I wanna do. It's my new thing, I guess."

"You just suddenly felt like kissing him?"

"Yeah."

Gabriella frowned, studying her brain for her next question.

"You gonna end up feeling like that again?"

"I dunno! That's like asking you if you think you'll end up wanting to eat an orange again. Maybe, maybe not."

"Chad…" Gabriella said slowly, smiling at him.

"To be honest, Gab… I don't know how I feel. It's weird. One minute I like girls, exclusively, the next thing I know, I've kissed a boy and I liked it."

"And did you like the taste of his cherry chapstick?" Gabriella laughed, Chad giving her a small smile.

"It's Troy, you know, it's weird. But our relationship has changed now. Don't get me wrong, we're still close, nothing's changed, like that. But I guess… I no longer see him as my brother. I see him…." Chad glanced up at Gabriella, shyly.

"What?"

"I see him as my hot friend who's actually a really good kisser." Chad widened his eyes, in disbelief of what he had just admitted.

"What are you saying, Chad?" Gabriella asked, confused. This whole gay thing was really starting to confuse her.

"That I know I definitely wanna kiss him again?" He bit him bottom lip and looked at Gabriella, looking slightly helpless.

"Chad, are you starting to think you might be gay too?" Gabriella asked softly, trying to hide the shock in her voice.

"No… I mean, I saw this girl today, wearing this dress, and boy…" Chad dropped his smile, remembering he was in company of a lady. "I'm not gay." He concluded.

------------------

Chad and Troy sat nervously in Troy's bedroom, knowing one of them was going to have to talk at some point soon.

"I know things have been weird recently…" Chad started. "I guess in my whole 'doing what I want' thing, I've not been considering anyone else."

"Oh…" Troy scratched his arm out of nervousness. "Well… It's just a little weird not knowing what's going on."

"Well… I'm definitely not gay, by the way… but flirting with you has been a lot of fun." He grinned. "And… so was kissing you." He mumbled so quietly, Troy barely heard him.

"Right, okay, uh huh…" Troy smiled.

"I guess now that we're getting older…" Chad started to bite his thumb nail. "And we're starting to explore our options… I'm seeing you in a different light."

"In what way?"

Chad shrugged.

"It's not like you're my brother anymore."

"Are you saying you don't feel close to me anymore?"

"No." Chad shook his head, looking at the floor. "I feel just as close to you as before. But not in a brotherly way."

Troy was struggling to understand.

"I don't get what you're trying to get across…"

"I know it's weird, this whole thing's weird, because we've known each other for so long, and seen each other as brothers for so long…"

"Yeah…"

"I don't know what I'm feeling. Except that I know I wanna kiss you again."

Troy was too stunned to reply. He wasn't sure what to think - Chad had never shown signs of being interested in men before, let alone Troy, but Troy wouldn't dare accusing him of being anything less than real again. If Chad wasn't gay, but he wasn't faking it, then what could this possibly mean?

Chad shakily climbed off of where he was sat, at the end of Troy's bed cross legged, and walked over to where Troy was sat, cross legged at the other end. He clenched his eyes shut, and took a deep breath. He cupped Troy's cheeks in his hands, and leaned down.

"So… can I?"

"Wow." Troy managed to squeak out. "Such a gentleman."

Chad assumed this was a yes, and tentatively pressed his lips against Troy's. The nerves he had been feeling swirled around and turned themselves into excitement and what felt like electricity running through his veins.

Troy was feeling absolutely indescribable. He couldn't believe or describe how he felt at that very moment. He had never experienced a kiss like that before - not from Gabriella, not even from JP. He felt so comfortable with Chad, yet it was exciting and new.

The two broke apart, observing each other's huge grins.

"That was…." Troy struggled to find his words.

"Awesome." Chad grinned.

"Weird." Nodding in agreement with Chad also. "Good weird."

"Hey, I, uh… wanna do it again."

"Do it."

The two men kissed once again, less tense this time, but equally as exhilarating. Chad moved his hands from where they were cupping Troy's cheeks, down to his muscular shoulders. He immediately pulled away.

"That was weird." He grinned.

"What?"

"Moving my hands to your shoulders whilst kissing you and… feeling so much muscle."

"I'm just that manly." Troy grinned.

"You know what I mean! I'm used to… women's shoulders. Less bulky and stuff."

"Bulky is better, right?" Troy smiled, gripping Chad's jaw in his hand, gently.

"It's different." He shrugged. "In a good way. Same with the stubble."

"You did make out with Gina in high school though…." Troy grinned.

"Her chin wasn't stubbly, it was more… downy hair."

"Ew."

"Anyway, your lack of boobies is upsetting me though." Chad shrugged.

"Oh… really?" Troy shrugged back. He pulled his shirt up over his head, and climbed to his feet. "Does this not appeal?" he asked, glancing at himself in the mirror slyly.

Obviously, Chad had seen this sight many times. So why did it impress him so much?

"It does. It really does." Chad grinned, partly to himself, sitting himself down on Troy's bed. Troy joined him, laying on his side, next to where Chad was sat.

"Hey, Danforth?"

"Bolton?"

"Stop for a minute… and take time to consider this… it's me. And you. We've just been making out and now you're talking about how my being shirtless appeals to you." He laughed. "It's so weird."

"Yeah it is." Chad grinned.

"What are the chances? Of all three of us guys, in our group in high school, all three of us being gay?"

"I'm not gay!" Chad corrected Troy. "I was turned on by a girl, just yesterday."

"Too much information." Troy shook his head. "So, what, are you saying you're bisexual, or something?"

Chad frowned. He'd never even considered that. He forgot there was something in between straight and gay. He shrugged.

"Maybe. I don't know, Troy." He honestly told him.

"Okay."

"But what I do know is… I wanna kiss you. Again." Chad smiled.

"Then what's stopping you?"

Chad moved around so that he was lay next to the shirtless Troy, his eyes roaming his chest. He placed his hand on Troy's chin, and kissed him once again.

"Oh my god!" Troy mumbled through the kiss.

Just then, Troy's door was opened, neither of them hearing until it was too late. They both looked sheepishly towards his door, to see his mother standing there, raised eyebrows.

"I swear, nothing surprises me anymore…" She drifted off, closing the door and hearing quiet, embarrassed laughter from inside Troy's room.


	21. Chapter 21

"Chad?"

"Uh huh?"

"You know what happened with JP, right?"

Chad looked across the table at Troy.

"He freaked out when he was followed, right?"

"Yeah." Troy nodded. "Aren't you… worried?"

"No." Chad shrugged. "Dude, I've been friends with both you guys for years. I can handle it. If anyone asks me anything, I'll tell them the truth." He grinned. "The selective truth, anyway. The truth as it was a month or two ago."

"I guess." Troy laughed.

"C'mon, you." Gabriella said to Troy, walking into the room. "Time for our romantic lunch date."

"This is sick." Troy sighed, standing up. "Why do we have to do this?"

"Because we're never seen together. Did you not see that picture that was printed in a magazine, of you leaving your parents' house? I'm getting more famous and in turn, so are you. And if they keep seeing you leave your parents' house, it's just asking for trouble."

Troy rolled his eyes and nodded.

"I know, I know." He said, linking his arm with Gabriella's. "Bye Chad." He grinned.

"Just so you know, I'll be here, waiting."

----------------

"I'm so happy for you guys." Gabriella grinned inanely at Troy.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Just because we kissed - a lot, yeah - doesn't mean anything…"

"C'mon, it's not like you guys need to get to know each other." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but…" Troy shook his head. "We'll see."

Gabriella reached across the table and linked her fingers in with Troy's.

"How's everything at work?"

"Good, actually. I'm a lot better when I haven't got things on my mind."

Gabriella giggled.

"There might be a reason I brought you here…" Gabriella bit her lip. "Other than the reason I told you, of course."

"Oh?"

"Well… Okay, here it is. Troy, my record company want me to move to California. Into LA. It's just easier for things, saves flying to and fro constantly, and…"

"Gabi, it's okay. I understand. I guess, in a way, it will make life easier. Right? There will be less speculation as to why we're not seen together." Troy rolled his eyes.

"I guess you're right." she nodded back, and smiled.

"And hey, there's 3 D-League teams in Cali. One being in LA, I'll come to see you before you even know it."

"Thanks Troy." Gabriella smiled gratefully at Troy's reassurance. "And Troy, I want you to take the apartment, it was always your home too, you deserve to live there. Anyway, I don't think I could bare to let it go."

"I forgot about the apartment, that's awesome Gab, thank you. When do you leave?"

"In a week."

"A week?!" Troy responded, shocked. "Aw, Gabs."

Troy got up from his seat, and went over and hugged her.

"I'm gonna miss you. It's gonna be so weird without you."

"I'll miss you too." She smiled slightly. "But being away will be good for me."

Troy smiled a knowing smile.

"You're gonna be that superstar I know you can be." Troy told her, sitting back down in his own seat. "There's a reason you're famous and Sharpay isn't." He laughed.

---------------

Two days later, Troy had already started to move his things back into the apartment. He was seriously starting to feel like living with his parents again was cramping his style, and so he didn't want to waste any time.

Chad was helping him move his things, of course. Troy was glad, and not just because he could admire the bulging biceps peeking out of Chad's sleeves, when he instructed him to life the heavier boxes. Now that he'd let himself admire them, of course.

It was still a little weird. For the both of them. Troy was having to come round to the fact he had developing feelings for his best friend. And Chad was the same, but also had to come to terms with having feelings for a male full stop.

"Chad, can I ask you something?" Troy said, throwing himself down on the couch, exhausted.

"Sure." Chad replied, throwing himself down next to Troy.

"In New York…" he started, frowning awkwardly. "Where did you go? What happened to you?"

Chad shrugged.

"I was so mad. I didn't wanna see you…."

--

_Chad just kept running. He only stopped when his legs threatened to give way if he didn't. He slumped against a building, and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. As tears fell from his eyes, he remembered a previous occasion, quite similar to this one._

_Back when Troy told him he wasn't going to U of A. He'd run off then, too, and ended up slumped and crying. And because of Troy. And the way he'd hurt him._

_The only thought now running through his mind was Troy. The feelings he was experiencing now were scaring him, why was he feeling like this? Why did he even want to kiss Troy? He sighed, picking himself up to his feet. He started strolling in the direction of the hotel. It was then he realised he didn't know where he was. Everything looked different in the dark. He noticed he was right by central park. But central park was huge - he could be anywhere._

_He shoved his hands in his pockets, sighing. He looked up at the tall buildings surrounding him, and it was then he realised that he recognised them. He passed a store with dolls in the window, and he remembered commenting to Troy that the creepy one looked like Sharpay. He sped up, and, lo and behold, he found himself in front of the hotel._

_He found his key card in his wallet, and made his way up to the room. When he got there, he threw himself down onto his own bed, and started to cry._

_Ten minutes later, he'd brought himself together, and was laying on his bed thinking. Every noise out in the hall made him jump, he was absolutely dreading Troy returning._

_So with that thought, he packed the little he'd unpacked of his suitcase, picked up his plane ticket from Troy's neat pile of travel documents, and, most importantly, flipped his pillow over so that Troy couldn't tell he'd been crying on it. He sighed, and walked out of the room. When he got down to reception, he handed in his key card, and walked out._

_-------_

"You flipped your pillow over so I couldn't see you'd been crying?" Troy smiled, apologetically.

"Yeah. Dumb huh?" Chad laughed slightly.

"A little." Troy smiled softly. "Go on." He said, taking Chad's hand and entwining his own fingers with his.

----

_Chad slowly wandered down 5__th__ Ave. He was pulling his suitcase along behind him, cursing himself for bringing a suitcase full of stuff. He looked at his watch. It was 10.30pm - only 11 and a half hours until he needed to be at the airport. What was he gonna do with himself? He could walk to the airport, that would take a good while. He sighed, and flagged down a yellow cab._

_An hour later, he had checked himself into a small hotel at the airport. He was laying on his bed, in his small box room, just thinking. Ignoring his phone that kept ringing._

_In the end, he turned it off. He called reception to arrange a wake up call, and went off to sleep._

_The next morning, he awoke early, before his wake up call. He quickly showered, and got dressed. His stomach was in knots - he was gonna have to see Troy at some point, whether he bumped into him at check-in, or not until they were on the plane. He decided to check in as early as possible. _

_-----_

"I'm glad you didn't do anything to put yourself at risk!" Troy quietly told Chad with a smile.

"Was gonna stay out all night, but I couldn't bring myself to do it." Chad rolled his eyes at himself. He shuffled slightly, and lay his head on Troy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I hurt you." Troy sincerely told Chad.

"I know Troy. Don't worry." Chad smiled to himself. He lifted his head. "Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"I've never felt so comfortable with anyone."

"Me neither."

"This might be a lot to ask of you… and I dunno if you're even on the same page as me, but…" Chad nervously took a breath. "But, Troy, I wanna be with you. I want us to be… together."

Troy smiled, looking at a nervous Chad, whose cheeks had flushed from brown to red.

"Chad, are you asking me to go steady with you?" Troy grinned.

"I… guess." Chad said, scratching his arm. "I think we should make a go of it."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah." Chad nodded. "Wait… you're not?"

"Oh, Chad, it's just that… this whole thing is weird for me but it's twice as weird for you. A little while back you didn't even like boys and now you wanna enter into a relationship with one?" Troy put his arm around Chad's shoulder. "Just wanna make sure you're sure."

"In theory, yes, it's all a little weird." Chad shrugged. "But I know that this feels right."

"In that case… I'd be delighted to be your man." Troy grinned.

"Awesome." Chad grinned. "…That was so weird to hear."


	22. Chapter 22

The night before Gabriella left for her new life living in LA, Troy and Chad took her out for dinner at a fancy restaurant. The boys had been keeping a secret from Gabriella, which was probably quite cruel - they knew she'd be desperate to find out that they were now a couple.

"Here's to Gabriella." Troy raised his glass above his head, Chad and Gabriella copying him. "And her new life as a rock star."

"Calm down." Gabriella grinned. "We'll see."

"Also… the separation of USA's golden couple." Troy pouted, and Gabriella laughed.

"USA's golden couple?!"

"Albuquerque's golden couple?" Troy grinned. Gabriella shrugged, and nodded.

"I'm gonna miss you guys." Gabriella sighed, the three of them clinking glasses.

"And…" Troy cleared his throat, grinned at Chad, and looked to Gabriella.

"What?" She smiled.

"Albuquerque's new golden couple…"

"Oooh, who?!" Gabriella said, her gossip radar beeping loud and clear.

"I can't really say…" Troy said.

"Troy! Tell me!" Gabriella desperately instructed him.

"It's not that I can't tell you, I just can't say it. Out loud. Here."

Chad grinned at Troy, who grinned back. Gabriella looked from one to the other, desperate to know the secret they were clearly both in the know about.

"Okay, Gabi. We can't say, but… Let's just say… it all started in a little city called New York…"

Gabriella let a wide grin spread across her face, as she went red with pent up excitement.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, quietly. "You guys are a couple now? Officially?"

"Yup." Chad smiled. "We're gonna give it a go and… see what happens."

Gabriella grinned, looking at Troy, who looked happy but slightly embarrassed, and she looked back at Chad.

"You should move in."

"Oh, Gabriella, uh..." Chad stammered, disbelieving the awkward situation Gabriella had just created. "It's really… and we just…" He glanced at Troy who was giggling slightly. "I don't think so."

"Chad really needs to live close to college." Troy nodded, before bursting into giggles.

"Okay…" Gabriella laughed. "It's too soon. But just remember, you guys know each other better than you know yourselves… you're skipping a huge part of relationship development…"

"Whatever." Chad sighed, feeling kind of beat from the stress that Gabriella purposely fabricated.

---------

The next morning, Troy took Gabriella to the airport, before seeing her off. The both of them cried a little, not for the benefit of any photographers that inevitably lurk in the airport, but genuinely for the loss they both knew they would feel soon enough.

"Bye, you." Gabriella smiled through her tears. "Take care of Chad."

"I'll let you know all the gossip, I promise." Troy smiled, hugging her close.

"This is so silly!" Gabriella laughed, wiping her tears away. "I don't wanna go. But I'll see you soon?"

"Bet on it." Troy smiled. "You'd better go. I love you."

"Love you too."

Troy kissed Gabriella with surprising passion, before she left him, standing alone, tears flowing from his eyes. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialled.

"Hey."

"Chad, man, you have any free time today?" Troy said, trying not to let the tears choke him. "I've got to see you." He sighed.

"Gabriella gone, huh?" Chad replied softly. "Are you at the airport?"

"Yeah."

"Come to my dorm. By the time you get here I'll have just finished classes before lunch. And that gives me a few minutes to fix myself up for you." He said with an audible smile.

"Okay." Troy laughed. "See you soon, Chad."

"Can't wait."

-----------------

Troy cleared his throat, and knocked on the door to Chad's dorm.

"Hey!" Chad said, opening the door. "Come in."

He stepped aside to let Troy in, and he shut the door. Before Troy knew what had hit him, Chad was squeezing him close.

"Are you okay, Troy?"

"I think I am, Chad, thanks." Troy smiled to himself. "But…"

"What, what is it?" Chad asked, pulling away, looking worried.

Troy put his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a crushed rose.

"I got you a flower." He said in a baby voice. "And you broked it."

Chad let out a grin on his otherwise apologetic expression.

"Aw, I'm sorry." Chad smiled, approached Troy. "I love it." He kissed Troy on the cheek, and took the rose from his hands. Troy turned slightly pink.

Chad got on his knees, and pulled an old suitcase out from under his bed.

"You know what I'm gonna do with this?" Chad asked Troy, holding up the crushed rose.

"No…" Troy said, clearly trying to think.

"I'm gonna press it." Chad smiled, opening the old suitcase to reveal probably hundreds of issues of Sports Illustrated. Chad lifted up a big pile, placed them on the floor, and then picked up another pile. He picked up two pieces of paper from his desk, lay one on top of the thin pile of magazines still in the case, put the rose on it, and placed the other piece of paper on top of the rose.

"I don't even know what I'm doing." Chad grinned.

"Yeah right." Troy teased.

Chad picked up as many magazines from the floor as he could, and hovered them over the flower. He let go, piling the stack on top. He then filled it back up with the rest, and closed the suitcase.

"Now," He smiled, pushing the suitcase back under his bed. "When it's done, I'm gonna frame it."

Troy tried to think of something teasing to say, it was his natural instinct when talking to Chad. The old him desperately wanted to tease him, but the new him couldn't help but admit it was incredibly sweet.

"Aw." Troy giggled, hugging Chad as he stood back up. "Thanks for letting me come round." He smiled.

"No problem." Chad grinned back, daring to touch Troy's hair, which was surprisingly soft.

"So, you wanna go out for lunch?" Troy smiled, pulling away from the hug and looking at Chad.

Chad just shrugged.

"Or… we could stay here…" He said, teasing his own hair with his fingers.

"Interesting idea." Troy nodded, and smiled. "And do what?"

"Get to know each other a little better?" Chad said, gently taking hold of Troy's wrist.

Troy started to laugh.

"Chad." He rolled his eyes through his laughter.

"What?" Chad said, also now starting to laugh.

"What kind of a line is that to say to somebody you've known almost your entire life, seriously?"

"Sorry." He grinned. "But I've never been in this situation before, have I?"

"I guess not."

Troy linked his fingers with Chad's, enjoying the feeling of their bulky knuckles locking comfortably together.

"Neither have I." Troy shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe not this exact situation. But you've… you know. Kissed a guy. Touched a guy." Chad blushed slightly. "And, you know…"

"Oh…" Troy raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, me and JP never… We never…"

"Oh." Chad said. "So you've never…"

"Chad." Troy smiled. "My first time with a girl was special. And with someone special. My first time with a guy is gonna be the same."

"So…" Chad shrugged, looking at the floor. "Am I special?"

Troy smiled to himself, before tipping Chad's chin up so that their eyes locked together.

"How can you even ask that question?"

Chad shrugged.

"You're one of the most special people to me in my life. Gay or no gay, you always have been special. You know that."

"I guess so." Chad started to smile. "I know what you mean, I feel the same." Chad's eyes shifted uncomfortably, Troy smiled. "Gay or no gay," Chad grinned, "I've always loved you, man."

Troy's smile grew until it was stretched right across his face. He pulled Chad close, and squeezed him until he almost couldn't breathe.

"I love you too." Troy said into Chad's ear. "Always have and… always will."

Troy buried his face in Chad's neck, and there the two of them stood for a few minutes, in silence. Troy gently ran his fingers through Chad's curls, as Chad's hands were gently massaging the back of Troy's neck.

"Over the years," Troy started, with a contented sigh, "We've got to know each other pretty well. As well as best friends should. But it goes deeper, and I want to give myself completely to you." Troy planted a kiss on Chad's neck. "I hope you'll let me."

Chad pulled Troy away from him, and looked him deep in the eyes.

"There is nothing I want more."


	23. Chapter 23

Chad gently, but firmly, pushed Troy against the wall, enjoying the thud his body make against the wall. Troy tipped his head back as Chad dotted kisses randomly around his neck. Troy briefly pushed his face into Chad's hair, inhaling the faint smell of fruity shampoo.

"You know what's strange?" Chad suddenly said, looking at Troy.

"What?"

"It's weird this whole thing has happened." Chad smiled. "But what's strange is, right now, it feels stupid that we haven't been doing this all along."

"Yeah." Troy grinned. "Well, not ALL along."

Chad laughed, stroking Troy's arm.

"From now on, huh?"

"Yup." Troy grinned, pecking a kiss sweetly on Chad's lips. "I am yours. In any way you want me." Troy smiled, sweetly but hiding a cheeky grin.

"I have a class in ten minutes." Chad sighed, resting his forehead on Troy's shoulder. "But I'll be out in two hours, will you wait for me?"

"Here?" Troy asked. "Um… sure. Maybe I'll nap, if that's okay. I was up early taking Gabi to the airport."

"Sure." Chad smiled. "I'll wake you up if you're still asleep when I get back." He grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"I look forward to it."

-------------

Chad smiled to himself, carrying two pizza boxes, and a plastic bag with ice cream and soda inside. He was walking down the hall towards his room, humming some tune he'd heard on the radio.

When he reached his room, he tried to open the door quietly, as not to wake Troy if he was asleep. And when he entered the room, he saw Troy snuggled up under his covers, fast asleep.

"Troy." He said, quietly and gently. "Wake up."

Troy shifted slightly, flopping back into a comfortable slumber. Chad rolled his eyes, placing the pizza boxes and soda on his desk, he sat on the edge of his own bed. He smiled down at Troy, sleeping silently, content expression gracing his face. Chad ran his finger over Troy's nose, smiling to himself.

Troy flickered his eyes slightly open, momentarily feeling slightly alarmed that there was a hand on his face, before he realised who the hand belonged to, and he relaxed.

"Oh, you're awake." Chad smiled to him, removing his hand.

"Mmm." Troy said, closing his eyes again. He didn't feel like talking and his eyes were scratchy and heavy.

"You gonna get up? I got us some pizza."

"Gimme a few minutes." Troy mumbled.

"Oh… okay." Chad said, dejectedly standing up and deciding to put the ice cream in the freezer. He went through to the kitchen, and when he returned, Troy's eyes were half open, his mouth curved into a slight smile.

"I don't think I have the energy to even sit up." Troy smiled lazily. "Come here."

Chad smiled back, walking over to Troy. He sat down on the edge of the bed once again.

"Get in." Troy instructed, yawning slightly. Chad grinned, kicking his shoes off, and climbing under the covers that Troy was pulling aside for him.

Troy placed his right hand on Chad's right shoulder, and snuggled up close to him.

"I missed you." Troy mumbled, closing his eyes once again.

"How? You were asleep!" Chad softly spoke, letting out a tiny laugh.

"Why are you laying there so rigid?" Troy sighed. "Cuddle me."

Chad let out a silent laugh at the sleepy Troy's words. He slid out from under the covers, in order to pull his jeans down. He assumed Troy wouldn't think he was being too forward - he figured every teenage boy or someone of a similar age knows that you can't get comfortable in bed with jeans on. He slipped back into his bed, to the evident delight of Troy, who moved closer into Chad's body. Chad wrapped his arms around Troy, pulling him against his own body.

"Mmm… that's better." Troy smiled, eyes still closed.

"Don't go back to sleep." Chad said, feeling Troy relaxing more and more under his touch. "I got pizza."

"What's wrong with cold pizza?"

Chad grinned, and laughed.

"Well… we'll get up in a minute…"

------

Chad woke up, to find himself huddled up with Troy, spooning him. He buried his face in Troy's neck, and ran his hand over a hairy, muscled thigh.

"Hey." Troy mumbled. He shifted himself round to face Chad.

"Wow." Chad grinned. "It's amazing to wake up next to you."

"I feel… just… happy." Troy smiled, eyes half closed. "Guess we should get up. Eat some pizza."

"I wanna stay here forever." Chad contently sighed.

"C'mon." Troy laughed, sliding himself out of Chad's bed.

Chad sighed, and reluctantly sat up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes, and watched Troy walk around his bed, dressed in a shirt and boxers, the same as himself. He slid out of bed to join Troy at his desk.

"So you didn't have practise today?" Chad asked, watching Troy open the pizza boxes and observe the toppings.

"Nope. Gabriella actually flew out today to coincide with my day off."

"Aw, that was sweet."

"I should go soon, though." Troy sighed, eating a slice of pizza. "I need to sort the apartment out."

"Okay." Chad sighed.

"This pizza's good!" Troy said, holding up a slice. "Cold pizza is what college life is all about, surely?"

"I hardly live the typical college life." Chad laughed.

"You should! Some of us don't get the opportunity."

"I feel so sorry for you." Chad rolled his eyes.

Troy finished another slice of pizza, before coyly finding his jeans and pulling them on.

"Come round soon." Troy smiled, placing his arm around Chad's shoulders. "See you soon?"

"Yeah." Chad smiled. "I'll call you."

Troy giggled and shook his head.

"Later, man." He patted Chad on the back, before pausing and kissing him.

"bye Troy." Chad replied, grinning.

------------

A few days later, Troy was lonely, sitting alone in the very apartment he was used to sharing with Gabriella. It was a cold night outside, the apartment was warm with the central heating on full blast, however without the friendly warmth of company, Troy felt cold.

He resisted the urge to call Chad. He didn't wanna seem needy. Needy? This was Chad, his best friend since, like forever, he knew he could be himself around Chad. Maybe he didn't have to play these stupid early-relationship games.

So, he dialled the number.

"Hey!" Chad answered after one ring, sounding cheerful. "How's it going, man?"

"Pretty good." Troy replied. After a second or two he said, "Actually… It's pretty lonely over here. You busy?"

"Aw, Troy. I've got a huge assignment to do but I shouldn't take too much longer. I'll put another hour in and I'll come over. Deal?"

"You're doing homework on a Friday night?!"

"If I finish it now, I've got the whole weekend free…"

"Do it. See you later."

----

Exactly an hour later, and Troy had cleared up a few things and changed his clothes. He looked at the clock, and now allowed himself to start expecting Chad. He continued to watch TV, but the volume subconsciously turned down to a quiet level, just in case he didn't hear the doorbell, which had always been ridiculously loud.

Troy's apartment wasn't too far from the U of A dorms. On a night, rather like tonight, it would probably take twenty minutes to drive. Troy hoped that Chad would drive fast. Half an hour later, Troy was quite on edge, almost thinking that Chad was never going to come.

But when the doorbell rang, he was the door, opening it before it had even stopped chiming.

"Hey." Chad smiled, stepping over the threshold.

Troy grinned at him, before stepping towards him.

"I need a big hug." He sighed, throwing his arms around Chad, and pulling him close.

"Hey!" Chad laughed softly. "Let's go inside first. Your neighbours will love this…"

Troy dropped his arms from around Chad, stepped aside to let him in, and closed the door behind him.

"Thanks for coming over."

"Oh, it's my pleasure." Chad grinned. "Anyway, I missed you."

Troy reached out and took Chad's hand, as they reached the living room.

"I always…" Troy trailed off practically as soon as he started speaking.

"What?" Chad asked, frowning and smiling at the same time. Troy sighed, and smiled shyly with a slight blush.

"I always miss you when you're not here."

"Awww." Chad giggled through a huge grin.

"You know…" Troy laughed, "If I had ended up going to U of A, we would have a lot more time to spend together."

"I dunno…" Chad shrugged. "If you went to U of A, you wouldn't have met Gary, or JP for that matter. You might not have realised you were gay yet."

"Hey, I guess you're right. Everything happens for a reason." Troy nodded. He sat down on the couch, Chad sitting down next to him, his head on Troy's chest. Troy put his arm around him and lay his hand on his chest.

"Chad…" Troy looked down at the boy's hair, biting his lip. "What Gabriella said… about you moving in…"

"Uh huh?" Chad replied simply and innocently, placing his hand on Troy's knee.

"I know we both dismissed it immediately, but…" Troy cleared his throat. "… you could. If you wanted."

Troy scratched his head nervously when Chad didn't reply.

"If you wanted." He repeated. "I know we haven't been together very long but… It's not as if we don't know everything about each other, and…" Troy sighed. "If you want to."

"I guess I could." Chad replied, biting his lip to stifle his ecstatic grin. "Yeah. I actually hang out here quite a lot so it's practically like my home already."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah." Chad grinned, sitting up and facing Troy. "Sure."

Troy grinned to himself at Chad's expression, an ecstatic grin now being allowed to spread across his face.

"Awesome."

Chad leaned over, and kissed Troy. He cupped his cheek, gently squeezing it, as Troy wrapped his strong arms delicately around Chad's neck. The both of them fell deeply into the kiss, forgetting everything; where they were, what day it was, even what prompted the kiss. The only thing they could remember was how they felt for each other, how good this felt, and exactly what they wanted to do.

Troy slid down from his seating position, as Chad crawled on top of him. He thrust his fingers into Chad's curls, squeezing when their hips met. He slid his hands down to those very hips, belonging to his best friend turned lover.

This was a whole different experience. Many a time he had been getting carried away on this very couch, and if anyone was gonna be on top of him, it would be the small frame of Gabriella. But now, with Chad letting his full weight fall on Troy, it felt strange, but good; Awesome.

Troy sighed, closing his eyes. As Chad left Troy's lips behind in favour of his neck, Troy slid his fingers under Chad's shirt, and caressed his smooth back with his fingertips. Troy felt his toes curl up, feeling increasing passion running through his veins, bucking his hips slightly.

Chad was pleased to feel a poking in his hip. He felt Troy quickly pull his hands up, pulling Chad's shirt with it. It was soon over his head and been tossed somewhere. Chad propped himself up on his elbows, and unbuttoning Troy's black shirt, dotting kisses along his chest as it was exposed. When he finally reached the last button, he pulled the shirt open and admired Troy's chest. He trailed a finger all the way down it, his breath catching in his throat every time it reached a bump in it's journey.

His finger finally met where his lips were kissing and sucking on flesh, just below Troy's bellybutton. He ran it delicately over the slight trail of hair, which disappeared under Troy's jeans. Chad was now faced with the very thing that had been poking him in the hip a moment ago. He took a breath, before fumbling to pull open Troy's belt.

"Chad…" Troy mumbled, involuntarily, glancing down through fuzzy vision, to where Chad's lips were dangerously close to the place his fumbling hands were currently putting massive strain on. Chad finally managed to undo Troy's belt, hurriedly undoing the button on his jeans, and pulling down the zip.

Troy groaned as fingers brushed his erection, before those same fingers rushed to pull his jeans down, and off, leaving Troy, sweating and panting below Chad, in just his bulging boxers. Chad grinned. He ran a finger purposely over Troy's bulging erection, enjoying watching Troy buck, writhe, and groan.

"Chad!" Troy whimpered, as Chad met Troy's face again and thrust his own lips against his. He brought a hand up to Troy's face, and brushed the sweaty, matted hair out of his eyes. "You're a beast." Troy said, with a frustrated sigh. "A sexy beast."

Despite the situation they were in, and despite where it was inevitably going, this comment made Chad blush, with a hint of pride, and with great satisfaction. He swiftly moved himself down to face Troy's erection once more.

As he took a breath, and grabbed the waistband of Troy's boxers and pulled them down over the bulge that lay below, Chad grinned widely as he lay his eyes on probably the only part of Troy's body he hadn't seen. Certainly not in this state, anyway.

And if Chad had any kind of doubt about his feelings, about being gay, or at least partly gay, they went away with the urges and passion running through his veins at laying eyes on this sight.

"Chad!" Troy repeated, urgency tainting his speech. He involuntarily bucked his hips and his breath sped up, as he felt Chad's breath on his erection.

Chad felt dizzy. He couldn't quite believe what was happening, as he opened his mouth and took Troy's penis into his mouth. It was a strange feeling, a new feeling, but Chad was beginning to become quite accustomed to new feelings recently. He playfully stroked his tongue around as Troy let out gurgling moans.

Troy was so blinded with passion and ecstasy, that he could barely collect his thoughts together. He couldn't even let out an organised moan, noise just cascaded out of his mouth as the man below him surprisingly expertly pleased him.

Troy gripped, and slightly pulled Chad's hair. Chad barely even noticed, as he himself was almost dizzy with ecstasy. The pulling increased as Troy grew nearer and nearer to the inevitable, and could have sworn that he'd blacked out for a second or two. Next thing he knew, he released with a thrust of his hips and a deafening scream. Chad, for a second, didn't know what to do with the strange tasting fluid in his mouth, but thought best to swallow it.

Troy kept his eyes closed, he had no energy to even lift his eyelids. He could hear Chad breathing heavily, and laying his head on his chest. He loosened the grip of his hand which was still messily entwined in Chad's hair.

"God, Chad." He managed to mumble.


	24. Chapter 24

"Troy?"

"Yeah?" Troy answered, lifting his head as much as he could manage.

"Did you mean what you said? Earlier?"

"About what?" Troy asked.

"Me moving in." Chad shrugged.

"Of course!" Troy sat up, still naked. "I wanna be with you as much as humanly possible."

"Aw." Chad smiled. "Well, in two weeks it will be spring break. How about I wait until then? So I have some time to move and sort things out."

"Spring break, huh?" Troy smiled, searching the floor for his boxers. "You can spend half of spring break moving in with your boyfriend, and the other half staying in your new bed with him."

"Aw, man." Chad sighed, leaning back on the couch, exposing the slight bulge still in his boxers. "Wait, why are you putting your clothes back on?!"

Troy stopped, and laughed.

"As opposed to walking around naked?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?"

Troy shrugged. He stopped again, shrugged again, and stopped putting his clothes on, and left himself in his boxers.

"Okay, fine, we're even." Troy smiled. "Although, not exactly even…"

"What do you mean?" Chad asked.

"Are you staying tonight?" Troy asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Do you.. Want me to?"

"I want you to stay forever!" Troy laughed.

"Okay, how about I stay the weekend? And go back on Sunday night?"

"Monday morning?"

"Fine, deal." Chad smiled. "Are we even now?" Chad asked, confused.

"I have something for you upstairs." Troy told him, standing up and walking out of the room. "Come on." He called from the stairs, which he was already half way up.

"I'm coming." Chad grinned, running after Troy as fast as his legs could carry him.

When they got upstairs, Troy led Chad into his bedroom.

"First things first…" Troy smiled, sitting down on his bed. "What you just did, was… amazing. Where did you learn to do THAT so well?"

"I have a dick too." Chad smiled. "I know what feels good."

"Good point." Troy nodded. "Then I guess, so do I."

Troy stood up momentarily, before dropping himself to his knees before Chad. Chad widened his eyes, disbelieving of Troy's sudden display. His knees trembled as, before he knew it, his boxers were around his ankles and Troy's lips were around his shaft.

Chad's erection rapidly formed inside Troy's mouth, causing Troy to let out a giggly groan, and the vibration of Troy's vocality carried through to Chad.

"Oh God…" Chad breathed, trying to focus on not letting go too early. He placed his hands gently on Troy's head and stroked the soft, still slightly matted hair. He gulped, his knees finally giving in and buckling slightly.

Troy stopped still, taking Chad out of his mouth, and standing up. He took Chad's hand. He pulled him to the bed, Chad stepping out of his boxers on the way.

"Lay down." Troy instructed him. "Apparently you're unable to cope with me standing up."

"Hey." Chad laughed, sighing as he lay down on the bed, glancing down at his erection. "You were a quivering wreck downstairs."

"You're right." Troy grinned, climbing on the bed and on top of Chad. "As I said, you're a beast." He wrapped his fingers around Chad's shaft, causing him to gasp. He lowered his face to his hand, and took Chad in his mouth once again.

"So am I gonna have to come up with a catchy sex nickname for you?" Chad asked, slightly laughing through his groans and gasps.

"mmhmm." Troy hummed against Chad, the vibration once again taking him to new heights. He was desperately trying to hold himself in, determined to at least last as long as Troy.

He had no idea how long he had lasted. On the one hand it felt like he'd been holding on forever, but at the same time, it felt like he had got to this point in seconds. Either way, Chad couldn't hold on any longer, and when Troy's hand joined in the stimulation, it pushed Chad over the edge and he released himself in a flurry of relief and ecstasy, into Troy's mouth.

"Oh… my god." Chad let out a big sigh. He watched, with a smile, as Troy swallowed. Troy pulled himself up to lay next to Chad.

"Thanks for staying this weekend." He smiled.

"If I wasn't gonna, I would be now." Chad grinned. "Troy that was amazing."

"Any nicknames spring to mind?" Troy laughed, laying his head on the pillow right next to Chad's. He placed his hand on Chad's chest and stroked with his fingers.

"You know what, Troy, you're just indescribable."

"Aw." Troy laughed. "I can't wait until you move in."

"It's gonna be a blast." Chad smiled.

"Yeah. All the blow jobs."

----------

When Troy awoke the next morning, it took him a second to remember who the lump next to him was, and once he remembered a big grin broke across his face. He was confused for a second when he turned and noticed feet next to his head. He looked down to the other end of the bed.

"Morning." Chad said from the end of the bed. He started to stroke Troy's leg.

"Hey." Troy smiled, bringing a finger up to tickle Chad's foot slightly.

"Ha ha! Stop it." Chad giggled, kicking slightly. "So what do you wanna do today?"

"Oh, well…" Troy shrugged, and got under the covers, shifting himself round and coming out at the other end of the duvet. "All I know is I don't feel like getting out of bed just yet."

Troy pushed his foot underneath his pillow at the other end, and flipped it up, kicking it down towards his head. He caught it, and put it under his head. He scooted himself closer to Chad, so their noses were about an inch apart.

"I so cannot wait for you to move in. We can wake up next to each other everyday."

"Yeah." Chad smiled with a sigh, half closing his eyes. "Except… I'm gonna have to get up early for college everyday. So I'm gonna wake you up every morning…"

"Oh." Troy shrugged. "Never mind. Its worth it."

Chad grinned, and pulled the duvet up to his face. He buried his face in it, and placed his hand on Troy's hip, squeezing flesh.

"We're gonna have to get up sometime."

"I guess." Troy shrugged. "But not yet."

------------------

"This is weird." Chad frowned, as he pushed the shopping cart around the supermarket, a grinning Troy following just behind him.

"You're gonna have to get used to it." Troy told him. "Anyway, don't forget. We're just two friends out grocery shopping. Nothing more."

"Because obviously you can't possibly be gay, being a celebrity and all."

"Shh!" Troy urged, nervously looking around the empty aisles. "Someone might hear."

"I'll be good from now on. I promise."

"Good." Troy said, satisfied, tapping him on the back to move down the aisle.

"Why do we have to shop together?" Chad sighed, looking blankly at the laundry detergents on the shelves. "I don't care what you buy for the house."

"What am I, a woman?" Troy glared at Chad. "I'm not taking responsibility for the grocery shopping."

"One of us has to take the role of the woman." Chad laughed. "And I really think it should be you."

"Shut up." Troy mumbled, unscrewing the top on a bottle of fabric softener, and sniffing the liquid inside. Chad raised his eyebrows. "Why do we have to conform?! Why can't we share the tasks that a woman would usually take on, and not label ourselves?"

"I've never been more convinced that you're the woman."

"You're asking for a slap."

Chad sighed, aimlessly pushing the shopping cart, leaning down on it, and letting his mind wander. He grinned as he remembered the sight of Troy, below him, writhing and panting. He looked up at Troy, concentrating on his purchases, looking innocent and beautiful. His hair was carefully swept into a golden brown fringe across his forehead, unlike the sweaty, matted mess obscuring his eyes the night before.

Chad was snapped out of his daydream when he realised Troy was talking to him.

"What?!" Chad answered, wide eyed. "Sorry. I was day dreaming."

"Oh, about what?" Troy smiled.

"Just something I did last night." Chad nodded innocently. "I had a great night with some girl."

"Okay, okay. Listen, what pasta shape is your favourite? Twirls? Shells?"

"I don't care!!!"

----------------

That night, the boys were well into their weekend, and enjoying every moment. They both saw this as a rehearsal for when they lived together - they'd grown up practically living together anyway, so actually living together wasn't likely to be a problem. In day to day life, though, the prospect of living together as a couple was still something quite new and slightly daunting.

Troy, having just about got used to being gay, was enjoying the experience of having his first gay relationship. After being with Gabriella for such a long time, it was strange but liberating to be in a new relationship, and to make it even better, because it was Chad he was completely comfortable.

Chad, however, was still getting used to his new found feelings. The first he'd known about not being straight was when he was already into Troy too deeply to do anything about it. He was coming to terms with it whilst going through the experience of having a boyfriend. And now he was moving in with him - he felt slightly dizzy, everything was moving so fast. It's not that he minded - at least it was just Troy, who he'd known almost his entire life, and regarding Troy, he just had to get used to their friendship changing to a relationship.

So, supposedly, they were both trying to get used to this new situation, but were both grateful to be going through this together.

The two boys decided on a cosy Saturday night in, watching a movie. After over twenty minutes of discussion on what movie to watch, they finally agreed on watching Shrek. It happened to be in Troy's DVD collection, even though he had no clue how it got there, supposedly. But they both felt like some laughs, so it was a mutual choice.

Chad was sat slouched on the couch, cross-legged, with Troy's head lay on his lap. His hand was absent-mindedly stroking Troy's hair, every so often laughing, which caused his body to vibrate and Troy's head to shake, which in turn would make Troy laugh himself, if he wasn't laughing already.

There was a faint ringing from Troy's pocket, Chad paused the movie as Troy pulled his phone out, and answered it.

"Hey Gab!" He cheerfully said down the phone.

"Hey!"

"How's it going in Cali?!"

"Aw, it's amazing. I am homesick already though."

"Aw, Gab. I'll come and visit you soon." Troy smiled to himself with affection.

"So what's going on?"

"I was just watching a movie." Troy glanced up at Chad, who was smiling down at him. "With Chad."

"Oh, uh huh…" Gabriella audibly smiled down the phone. "How are things going with you guys?"

"Really good." Troy smiled, stroking his free hand on Chad's knee. "In fact… we rethought your plan about Chad moving in."

"Really?! Oh, Troy, that's so awesome!"

"Calm down, sweetie." Troy grinned, finding Chad's hand and linking his own fingers together with Chad's. He planted a kiss on Chad's thumb. "But we're both kinda excited too. He's here for the weekend, then he's gonna move in during spring break."

"That's nice." Gabriella giggled. "I'm so glad everything's going great for you guys."

"Thanks." Troy smiled. "I'm glad you're enjoying Cali. I'll see you soon. I think I'm coming your way in a week or two. I'll call you, and we'll hang out."

"In public?" Gabriella asked, Troy laughing and rolling his eyes.

"Sure."

----------------------

Chad yawned as the movie ended, and looked down to Troy. He was asleep on his lap. Chad smiled to himself, stroking Troy's arm. He sighed, and shook him gently to wake him up.

"Troy!" He said quietly, rolling him slightly to face him.

"Huh?" Troy mumbled, opening his eyes slightly, but clenching them shut as the light hit his eyes.

"C'mon, sweetie, let's go to bed." Chad spoke softly.

Troy opened his eyes, and sat up quickly.

"Sweetie?" He laughed affectionately. "I don't think you can pull that off, man."

"Was trying to be sweet."

"Aww." Troy giggled, stretching. "You're already sweet."

Chad blushed a little, as he pulled his curly hair back and tied it up.

"Let's go to bed." He rolled his eyes, smiling, and taking Troy's hand. Troy wearily led Chad up the stairs.

"Is it even late?" Troy asked, yawning, slightly disbelieving that he fell asleep during the movie.

"11pm." Chad shrugged. "Early for a Saturday night. Clearly you're a party boy."

Troy climbed under the covers, and snuggled down to go back to sleep. He watched Chad get undressed and remembered he should do that too, even though he didn't feel like moving.

"Hey…" Troy wondered, scratching his head. "Is it weird for you that this is the same bed that me and Gabriella… slept in?"

"As long as you've changed the sheets since…" Chad told him, with a smirk. "Then it's okay."

"It's a little weird to me." Troy said quietly, pulling his jeans off.

"What are you saying?" Chad sighed wearily. "You wanna buy a new bed?"

"No…" Troy shrugged. "Just saying."

------------

The next morning, Troy awoke, smiling, observing a still asleep Chad. It quickly dawned on him that in 24 hours time, Chad would be gone. If he was honest, he was dreading it. Being alone in this apartment again? He wasn't sure he'd be able to stand it. Still, only two weeks until he moved in for good.

Troy couldn't help himself; he shuffled in closer to Chad and pressed his own lips against his. He felt a slight pull, and he broke the kiss, thinking he'd woken Chad up. Chad stirred slightly, but stayed asleep. Troy couldn't help but stare at him, he loved how he looked with his hair tied back. Troy ran a finger over the seldom exposed part of Chad's cheek, and hesitated before snuggling his face into Chad's pillow, next to his face.


	25. Chapter 25

After an amazing Sunday, picnicking in the park, taking in the cool, spring Albuquerque air, Troy and Chad were both pretty bummed when Monday morning rolled around. After cooking Chad breakfast, a meal he didn't usually indulge in, Troy saw Chad off, feeling thoroughly depressed.

After catching a few more hours sleep, Troy went off to work, where he had practise. Next Tuesday was his game against the LA D-Fenders, he dropped a text to Gabriella to let her know. He couldn't stop thinking about Chad all day - he wished the scouts that found him back in high school had spotted Chad's potential too. Maybe they'd be together in D-League, playing together as T-Birds. Then he wouldn't have to spend any time away from him.

But it was only him here. Well, him and his team mates. He glanced at Gary, dribbling around the court. He smiled to himself. It felt strange that he had been his first gay crush - he had since well got over him and they had become good friends. He could definitely still see why he had been attracted to him - but he was now happy with his man.

When he got home that night, he sighed, feeling quite lonely. He decided to call Ryan because, for all Ryan knew, Chad could still be missing and Troy still pissed.

"Hey, Troy." Ryan answered the phone. "How's everything?"

"Everything's good."

"Oh, really?" Ryan asked. "Did you, uh, sort everything out with Chad?"

"Um…" Troy smiled to himself. "Yeah, I guess we sorted everything."

"You gonna tell me what happened?" Ryan laughed, getting Troy's vibe that there was more to it.

"Well… he said he kissed me because he felt like it. So I was like, you just felt like it? He said yeah. He said he just wants to start going with the flow and doing what he feels like. I asked him would you kiss a guy again? He said yeah, if he wanted to. I asked him if he'd kiss me again, he said yes.

"He said he didn't understand what he was feeling. But it turned out he wanted to kiss me again. So… he did."

Ryan giggled.

"Carry on!" Ryan urged.

"He was still confused because we made out, and liked it, but he said the day before he was turned on by a girl. So I said is he bisexual, he said maybe, he didn't know. But then he told me he's never felt so comfortable with anyone, and said he wanted us to be together."

"Oh my god!"

"I'm not even finished!" Troy laughed. "Anyway, Gab moved to LA, her record company thought it would help her career. So I moved back into the apartment, and, uh… Chad's gonna move in during spring break."

"Oh my god!" Ryan repeated. "I can't believe all that happened in such a short space of time."

"Tell me about it! It's a whirlwind. But nothing's ever felt so right."

"Aww!" Ryan cooed. "I'm depressed about being single now."

"Single? In the school of cock?"

"Ha ha." Ryan dully sighed. "Yeah, all these guys are only after one thing. I've dated a bit but… you know."

"I get it. I guess I'm lucky." Troy paused. "I feel lucky."

"You are." Ryan sighed. "Hey, I'm gonna be in Albuquerque for spring break. Maybe I can come and see you guys."

"Of course!"

------------

A couple of nights that week, Chad and Troy saw each other. They went out for dinner, went to the movies, stayed home and explored their new found sexuality. Troy was grateful for the evenings they spent together, because come the weekend, he was super busy with a game. Before he knew it, it was Tuesday, and he was on the plane to LA. He hadn't seen Chad since Friday and was missing him in body as well as soul. Still, he missed Gabriella too and he was on his way to see her.

She picked him up from the airport, accompanied by some paparazzi. Troy was stunned - compared to LA, Albuquerque had hardly any paps and besides, he hadn't realised how famous Gabriella had gotten.

"This is a little strange." He told Gabriella, in the car to her new house. "Do you get this all the time?"

"Not all of the time." She laughed. "Some of the time. You get used to it." She nodded, Troy raised his eyebrows. "I haven't yet." Gabriella laughed.

"I guess it's all part of being a celebrity." Troy shrugged.

"Yeah." Gabriella said quietly. "And now you're one too."

"I guess I'll get used to it." Troy smiled. "If you can do it, so can I."

"It's gonna be harder for you, though." Gabriella smiled sympathetically. "You know, with you and…"

"I know." Troy nodded, cutting Gabriella off, worried about the driver listening. "It's cool. We're all in this together, right?"

"Right."

------------

Gabriella attended Troy's game, which the T-Birds won. Afterwards, they went out to dinner. They spoke about Gabriella's new life in LA, the D-League… everything except Chad and their relationship. They both knew they couldn't talk about that in public. So, after dinner, they retired back to Gabriella's new house.

"Wow." Troy said, laughing as he stepped through the door. "This is huge."

"Six bedrooms." Gabriella nodded. "I often feel a little lost in here."

"Six? Wow."

"The record company bought it. Since they got me to move to LA, I'm living here rent-free for a year, then once I've made some money I can either buy the house or start paying rent. Or move out."

"Nice!" Troy laughed. "It's a great house, though. It will be great when you start a family."

"Like that's gonna happen anytime soon."

"You're gonna meet a guy, soon, I bet." Troy nudged her in the ribs.

"I doubt it."

"What? But you're talented, beautiful, sweet, funny…"

"Troy." Gabriella sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's kinda hard to meet a guy when the whole world thinks I'm in a committed relationship."

"Oh…" Troy trailed off, blushing slightly, and feeling a sinking in his heart. "I'm sorry."

"It's cool." Gabriella smiled, feeling guilty for depressing Troy. "Pretty soon I'm not even gonna have time. Anyway, I'm having the time of my life, I don't need a boyfriend. I guess I'm just enjoying being single."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Anyway, no one can live up to you." Gabriella giggled, squeezing Troy's face.

"I'm sure." Troy laughed. Gabriella paused.

"He will have to be some guy to fill your shoes, though." She said, with a smile, but seriously.

Troy looked at Gabriella. He pulled her into a hug.

"Don't say that." He laughed softly. "Now I wanna cry."

"Don't be silly." She mumbled into his shoulder.

"I feel bad!" Troy smiled. "I love you. I don't like remembering that I hurt you."

"Forget it, Troy." She said. "It's not even your fault. You can't help how you feel, just as I can't help how I feel."

"And?" Troy asked. "How do you feel?"

"I love you." Gabriella said simply. "And I know I have to work to get past it. But I don't know how."

Troy sniffed, blinking heavily to try and rid his eyes of tears.

"You're killing me here." He giggled slightly through the painful lump in his throat.

---------------

When Troy stepped off the plane, he was smiling to himself. He'd had a pleasant time with Gabriella, and it was now only a few days until Chad moved in.

Speaking of Chad, when Troy strolled into arrivals, the man himself was there, grinning, his white teeth showing in glee.

"Chad!" Troy threw his arms around Chad, but only for a moment, before coming to his senses and breaking the embrace, patting Chad on the shoulder.

"Hi Troy." Chad grinned still, speaking in a slightly flirtatious fashion.

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"C'mon Troy, you should know my timetable by now. The amount of meetings we've arranged around it."

Troy widened his eyes, shifting them left and right, but letting himself relax when he remembered he was back in Albuquerque, he'd only been in LA a couple of days but was finding it hard to let his guard down, he'd become accustomed to the swell of paparazzi.

"Sorry." Troy said, boldly, sarcastically. "You'll have to give me a copy to put on my refrigerator."

"Hey," Chad laughed, "Might not be a bad idea once I move in."

"I have a game tomorrow." Troy said, changing subject completely. "You gonna come."

"I'll have to consult my timetable."

"It's at 7.30pm, jackass."

Chad laughed. It was times like this that felt the weirdest - when they spoke to each other like one of the guys, as opposed to their lover. Being accustomed to this manner of speaking to each other for the majority of their lives, it was often how they spoke to each other, still. It was appropriate, not least because, Troy thought to himself, you never know who was listening.

-------------------

The next day, Troy smirked as he jogged out onto the court, and saw Chad sitting where he sat every time he attended a game. Troy looked around the coliseum, not a bad turnout today. The team had gotten used to the games pretty much selling out, recently - a direct result of Troy's celebrity status. Troy's eyes vaguely, instinctively looked to the area JP could often be found in. He couldn't help it; he did it every single game. Even the away games, although obviously seating was different in every venue, and found himself glancing at the most random things.

More often than not, Troy's eyes would find JP. He attended most games, and, Troy discovered, this one was no exception.

Troy took a breath, and put it to the back of his mind, as he did every time. He smirked to himself. Besides Ryan and Gabriella, the definition of his entire sexuality was in this room. Well, the large coliseum, but still. Gary… JP… Chad. All here. Troy felt his heart beat irregularly, if only for one beat. He took a deep breath. He looked around at his team mates, and laughed to himself when his eyes met Gary. He took one last reassuring glance up to Chad, and threw his mind entirely into the game.

The T-Birds lost. The score ended as 99-94, in favour of the visiting Dakota Wizards. Troy skulked off of the court, jumping almost out of his skin when he got pulled into a corridor on his way to the locker room.

"Hi."

"JP?!" Troy said, wide eyed, suddenly quite conscious of how sweaty and gross he felt. "How the hell do you people get back here?!" Troy shook his head in bewilderment, making a mental note to speak to the manager.

"Great game."

"Hardly. We lost. I guess you missed the end of the game."

"You guys were dead in the water twenty minutes ago." JP grinned. Troy cracked a small smile.

"What's going on, anyway? Why are you back here?"

"I… I wanted to see you." JP smiled.

Troy inwardly groaned. JP had some kind of mysterious charm, the kind you almost can't fight.

He sighed. JP's chocolate brown hair was sticking up, looking stiff but curiously also soft. Troy remembered how it felt, and blinked slowly. He smiled inwardly, noticing the stubble that covered JP's face. The thought immediately came to his mind that it would scratch his own face if they were to kiss. Stop it, Troy scolded himself. He continued to take in JP's features, though. His pink, full lips, his bumpy but perfect nose, his big, emerald green eyes. Eyes that were grinning at him with plenty of lust. Troy blushed, invisibly, he hoped.

JP's fingers fiddled with the chunky silver ring on his thumb. He bit his lip, and shifted his eyes onto a speck of something on the wall. Troy hadn't responded, he wasn't sure what to do next. He tried to divert his eyes from ogling Troy - his hairy, muscled calves standing proudly below his shorts, JP's eyes moved, of their own accord of course, up to Troy's upper half, lingering on the way between his hips. Troy's biceps were glistening, sweat settling and drying on the tanned skin.

"Just so you know…" Troy finally broke the silence, JP's eyes immediately jumping back to look into Troy's. "I'm seeing someone."

"Oh…" JP said, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his heart. "Wow. I'm happy for you."

Troy smiled awkwardly, slowly pushing his hands into the deep pockets of his shorts.

"I don't know why I came back here." JP sighed, honestly. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's okay." Troy shrugged. "It was nice to see you." He smiled. "Honestly."

"When you're not busy…" JP started, but hesitated, biting his lip before deciding to proceed. "Come to mine, we'll have lunch. Just as friends, obviously. I mean, we had fun when we hung out, right?"

Troy looked around, nervously. He was torn. JP was fun to hang out with, yeah, but he was also dangerously attractive. What would Chad think? He was surely allowed to have friends.

"Sure." Troy sighed, smiling at JP, who was now also smiling, his enticing green eyes dancing with relief and happiness.

-----------

I'm so sorry it's taken me a while to post this. Hm, didn't I say that in the last chapter? I got a bit of writer's block in the middle of the Troyella scene, I hope it doesn't show. Anyway, I finally got the idea of bringing JP back for a bit, because I like him as a character, and he's hot. Lol. What are your guy's opinions on him? Do you just want him to get the hell out? Lol..

Please review.x


	26. Chapter 26

_Gabriella and Troy: Reunited_

_Gabriella Montez is a star on the rise, and the star recently moved away from her home town of Albuquerque, NM, to pursue her career further in LA. She left behind boyfriend Troy Bolton, currently playing for NBA D-League's Albuquerque Thunderbirds. The T-Birds were recently in town for a game against the LA D-Fenders, which brought this young, hot couple together for a short reunion._

_As our exclusive pictures show, the two enjoyed a romantic meal at a top restaurant, before retreating to Montez's six-bedroom mansion. If anybody thought the distance would put strain on their relationship, one glance at the body language displayed by these two puts those thoughts to rest._

_So, sorry girls, this sexy up-and-coming NBA star is still off the market. Check out next week's edition of Celebrity! For our pick of the best pictures of Bolton on the court._

"Ugh." Troy threw the magazine on the kitchen table. He reluctantly picked his phone up, and sent a quick text to let Gabriella know. Despairingly, he knew she'd be pleased.

Troy hated gossip magazines; to him, they were so pointless. But he hesitated in throwing it away - what a waste of money that would have been. He wasn't one to feel excitement that he was in a magazine - but he kept it anyway. He tucked it away under the fruit bowl on the table - out of the way. He made a mental note to put some fruit in the fruit bowl, frowning at the can of soda that was lay on it's side in the bowl.

--------------

It was Friday. Chad's last day in lessons before spring break. The plan was for him to stay on campus over the weekend, do some packing (in all honesty, he was too excited to have left it to the last minute - it was mostly done) and move in on Monday. Troy had a game Monday night, so he'd leave Chad to it, to settle in and do what he feels. Troy was looking forward to coming home and spending their first night together as a live-in couple, excited and pumped from the game. As he knew very well from his relationship with Gabriella, when he was pumped from a game, he became an animal, and couldn't wait to take Chad to bed to prove it to him.

Troy grinned to himself, sat on the couch, fidgeting uncomfortably at the thought. He tried to put Chad out of his mind, the last thing he needed was to get hot and bothered whilst sat here all alone. He sighed, switching on the TV. He soon became engrossed in a football game.

When the game finished, Troy rolled his eyes when an advert for Starbucks came on. But he remembered what JP said… He shrugged to himself. There's no harm in hanging out with a friend, right? He was bored and lonely sitting here by himself. So, he picked up the phone.

-----------

And an hour later, he was knocking on JP's door. Troy was apprehensive; he probably shouldn't have even come here. He was confident in himself that nothing would happen, he had Chad, but he wasn't confident that, spending time with man as beautiful as JP, his thoughts would stay as innocent as he intended to keep his body.

Any hopes he'd had of that flew out the window when JP opened the door. He was wearing a black button-up shirt, only half the buttons done up, long sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his tanned, slightly hairy forearms. Troy caught a peek of JP's stomach, as was likely JP's cruel intention. His jeans, not quite baggy, but loose fitting, sat on him perfectly, waistband of his boxers ever so slightly peeking out. JP's white fabric belt wrapped around his hips, the loose end trailing down, drawing Troy's eyes to a place he was desperately trying to avoid.

"Hey." JP smiled, his eyes evidently giving Troy the same treatment Troy had been giving him. "Come in."

Troy followed JP in, clenching his eyes shut for a second. Why was he doing this, why? Sure, JP was fun to hang out with. But was it worth this torture?

As he sat down on JP's couch, he tried to distract himself from JP's attractiveness. He deflected his mind onto Chad - Chad naked, sweating, moaning…. No. He quickly realised that particular route wasn't the best one for his mind to take. He decided to stop thinking.

"I thought we could watch a movie or something." JP said, stretching, revealing more of his stomach to a squirming Troy. "You want something to drink? I'll put some popcorn in the microwave."

"You got any coke?"

"I'm gonna assume you mean cola." JP laughed. "Yeah I do. I'll be back in a moment."

Half an hour later, Troy was trying to focus on the movie. He tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest, intensifying every time JP would accidentally touch him. This was ridiculous! He pulled out his phone and typed a text to Chad.

'I miss you! Can't wait for '

He let out a small smile to himself, and another when he received a reply.

'Miss you too. Still, the memory in my head of you sweating and panting helps. Oh god, I miss you. Might be able to get away soon?x'

Troy's face flushed a furious shade of red, luckily JP didn't notice.

'I'm at a friend from d-league's place. My vain attempt to put you out of my mind. But let me know if you can get '

"Who you texting?" JP smiled. Troy flushed red again, looking up at JP's green eyes burning on him.

"Uh, just, uh, no one."

"The ball and chain, huh?" JP laughed, Troy looked confused. "Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah." Troy said coyly, wishing his face back to a normal colour, looking down at his vibrating phone.

'Don't do anything I wouldn't do. I'll try in an hr. have fun.x'

JP sighed to himself. He let out a smile when Troy looked up, grinning to himself that Troy's face was still pink. He loved that a guy as cool as Troy Bolton blushed so easily. He wondered to himself about the colour Troy's face might flush when at the height of intense pleasure…

He looked over, just as Troy looked up. Their eyes locked, a hungry green met a passionate but confused blue.

"Troy…"

"JP, don't…" Troy whimpered quietly, not trying to pull his eyes from where they were tightly locked. "I… I've… got a… I've got a…"

"Troy…" JP repeated, quiet but steady. "Forget him." He put his hand on Troy's thigh. "You and me, you know it would be amazing."

Troy clenched his eyes shut. Was God testing him? He needed a bigger force to blame, the strain he was feeling was unbearable.

"Yeah." Troy nodded, opening his eyes, but averting them to the floor. "It would be. But I can't forget him. There's no way."

JP shifted himself closer to Troy, and leaned his face in towards Troy's.

"Don't." Troy said, looking into JP's eyes. JP stopped, lips less than an inch away from Troy's. "I mean it. I love him." Troy whispered, not sure whether or not his lips were brushing against JP's as he spoke. He clenched his eyes shut once again, as JP ran his hand further up his thigh, squeezing as he went along.

"Really?" JP asked, this time deliberately brushing his lips against Troy's whilst he spoke.

"Oh my god, JP, honestly, if I was single, you'd be screaming your ass off right now. You wouldn't know what hit you." Troy grinned to himself. "But that's how I make my guy feel. And how he makes me feel."

Troy stood up, and folded his arms. JP glanced at Troy's prominent bulge.

"Aw, man. I got you horny and now you're gonna go back to him." JP bitterly laughed. "I do all the hard work and he reaps the benefits."

Troy grinned, and rolled his eyes.

"Dude, that's sweet, but he doesn't need you to do his hard work."

"Dude." JP said to himself, letting out a small laugh. "Who says that?"

"Me." Troy laughed. He was thinking about his laundry, trying not to think of Chad. "Anyway, I really should go." Troy glanced down, confirming to himself that he'd successfully ridded himself of his tent.

"Are you sure?" JP asked, standing up to face Troy. Troy looked down, and widened his eyes at the massive bulge.

"Woah." He laughed. "Yeah, I, uh… definitely need to go." He pulled his eyes from JP's bulge, and made his way to the door.

"What, no hug goodbye?" JP smiled.

"Oh, so you can poke me with that monster? I don't think so. See ya." Troy laughed, walking out the door.

---------------

When Troy finally got home, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He should've listened to his instincts, he shouldn't have gone round. But at least now he knew himself a little better; he knew that at heart, he wasn't a cheat. JP was the ultimate temptation, if he could refuse him, he could refuse anyone. He could now trust himself.

He smiled to himself. Something good had come out of this, at least. He picked up his phone and stared at it for a minute. He dialled Chad's number.

"Troy." The voice smiled.

"Oh my god, Chad, I need to see you." Troy groaned into the phone. "Please tell me you can get away."

"Troy…" Chad groaned back. "I wish. This is hard to say but…. I have an assignment and I'm thinking logically - if I finish it now, it's out the way. Then we'll have two weeks to do whatever we want. Make sense?" Chad smiled into the phone.

"Chad!" Troy whimpered. "Okay, okay."

"I'm sure you'll find something to do." Chad said, Troy could hear typing in the background.

"There's only one thing I'm interested in doing." Troy mumbled groggily.

"You're just gonna have to do that by yourself." Chad laughed.

"I could really do with your help." Troy laughed back, still groggily. "Maybe though the medium of picture messaging…"

"No way." Chad told him. "You know, the thought of you sitting at home, all hot for me… it drives me crazy." Chad smiled, with a slight groan tainting his voice. "I'm getting hard, now."

"Chad…" Troy groaned, glancing down at his own bulge, re-forming. "…Me too."

"Take off your shirt." Chad sighed.

"Hang on." Troy lay the phone on the couch and yanked his shirt off. "Okay."

"Unzip your pants." Chad mumbled, Troy noticing the typing had stopped. "And touch yourself."

"Mmhmm." Troy slid his hands into his boxers, and wrapped his fingers around his shaft. His eyes closed as he remembered that night Chad went down on him. "I wish you were here."

"I wish…." Chad's breath hitched in his throat, Troy involuntarily let out a moan when he realised Chad was doing the same as him. "God, I wish I was too."


	27. Chapter 27

Okay, first of all, I am so sorry I took SO long to update this! I haven't been writing for six weeks or so, a bit of personal stuff that just generally sucked away my inspiration to write! But I managed to bash out this chapter, which had been half written for ages. I've been working on a couple of other stories too, but I've been struggling my way through this block but after managing to write this chapter hopefully I've dislodged it. Anyway, enjoy, and you should know, I will never leave this particular fic unfinished, no matter how long it takes me to update - there's always an update coming at some point!

Secondly, the year I mention in this chapter… I think it's right, I tried to work it out, but writing this, especially with my break, it was difficult to accurately remember the timeline so I think the year is right?! Feel free to correct me. I went by the third movie, they would've started college 08 ? Enjoy.

--------------------------------

The next morning, Troy woke up with yet another prominent bulge. He ran his hand down, and ran his fingers over his boxers. He let out a frustrated moan and found his phone with his other hand.

"Please tell me you finished your assignment?!" Troy groaned down the phone when Chad answered.

"Nope." Chad laughed. "Nearly. God, Troy, it's 10am, do you ever wind down?"

"Not with you as my boyfriend." Troy laughed. "Maybe I'll have to come to terms with having a permanent boner."

"Not if I can help it." Chad said. "I'll be finished in an hour. Why don't you come by, we can move some of my stuff. And maybe say goodbye to my room in style."

"Sounds good." Troy grinned. "Really good."

"So count to 3600 and come over."

"What?" Troy sighed.

"In an hour's time, make your way over." Chad sighed, with a laugh. "You're suffering with no college, lunkhead basketball man."

"Shut up."

"Come round and shut me up."

"You just wait." Troy groaned. "See you in an hour... And a bit."

Troy smiled, and hung up the phone. He climbed out of bed, cursing the painful stiffness in his boxers.

-----------

Troy looked up at the clock. It had been just over an hour since he'd called Chad, and so he bounded down to his truck, and jumped in. This was it - he was about to start helping Chad move in. He was filled with excitement; all the way through his life, he'd never felt himself get bored of Chad's company, and now he was gonna live with him. When they were growing up, they spent so much time together, that they practically lived together. He felt no apprehension - he was expecting every moment to be awesome.

When he arrived at Chad's dorm, he couldn't jump out of his truck and speed walk inside fast enough. Chad, sat inside, grinned to himself upon hearing the shrill, desperate knocking.

"Jeez." Chad grinned, opening the door. "Even your knock is horny."

Troy blushed, barging past Chad, and stepping into the room. He looked around at the bare room.

"Wow, this is weird." He smiled, eyeing the boxes in the corner.

"Yeah I know. I can't believe I'm leaving here. It was home for a year and a half."

"Aw." Troy smiled, approaching Chad from behind and wrapping his arms around his waist. "Sad, huh. But hey, we're gonna make our apartment special, yeah? Make it home for years to come."

"Yeah." Chad said, taking in a breath. "I guess. But it was kinda you and Gab's place first…"

"Now it's mine and yours." Troy insisted, planting a small kiss on Chad's neck. "We'll make it ours. Okay?"

"I guess." Chad smiled. "Yeah."

Troy gave Chad a little squeeze.

"So, how about we take some of this stuff down to my truck."

"What? And use all our energy?" Chad grinned. "I was hoping to be using it all for something else."

"What? And use all our energy?" Troy repeated. "And have none left to move any boxes?"

"Uh, yeah." Chad laughed, with a slight look of confusion. "I know what I'd rather be doing."

"Chad, the sooner we move you in, the sooner we can spend every waking moment in bed."

"You make a good point."

Troy gently hit Chad in the chest, and picked up a box, that ended up being heavier than it looked. Troy frowned and balanced it on his knee, as he opened the door.

"Come on." He sighed to Chad. "The sooner we get it done.."

"Okay, okay." Chad grinned, picking up a box.

----------------------

About forty minutes later, Troy returned to Chad's room after taking the last box down to his truck. Chad was lay on his bed, eyes closed.

"Dude, I'm exhausted." Chad sighed. "All I wanna do is sleep."

"C'mon, you can't be THAT tired." Troy grinned, laying next to Chad, on his side. "What happened to saying goodbye to this room in style, huh?"

Chad opened his eyes and glanced to the side to look at Troy.

"Too tired." He shrugged with a slight grin.

"Are you sure?!" Troy said, squeezing Chad's thigh. Chad rolled his eyes and squirmed slightly.

"I hate you." Chad groaned, turning on his side to face Troy, and propping his head up on his arm.

"I know." Troy grinned, as he felt Chad run a fingertip over his lips. Troy kissed Chad's finger.

"I can't believe we're gonna live together." Chad whispered, shuffling himself closer to Troy, and placing his hand on the small of his back.

"I feel so grown up." Troy whispered back with a smile. "Somehow… it feels more real this time. More real than with Gabi."

"It's a little scary. But kinda awesome." Chad grinned, leaning in and pecking Troy on his lips.

"Chad, you know…" Troy fidgeted a little, avoiding contact with Chad's eyes. "You do know… I love you?"

Chad's grin grew wider, enjoying the blush tainting Troy's cheeks.

"Yeah. I know." He shrugged. "…and… I love you too."

"Good." Troy laughed, running his hands under Chad's shirt. "Now that's settled… we have some goodbyes to say to your room."

Chad grinned as he let Troy remove his shirt.

"You're so full of good ideas, Troy."

"Stop talking!"

Chad obeyed, silencing his own lips against Troy's, as he reached for Troy's belt buckle, pulling it open. He smiled, Troy groaned as Chad's hand grazed his straining boxers.

"I forgot you were ready to explode." Chad grinned at Troy, purposely grazing his fingertips over Troy again.

"Argh!" Troy growled. "You're such a fucking tease."

"Language, Mr Bolton."

"Shut up."

Troy dug his fingers in Chad's chest, and ran them down to his hips. His fingertips felt the hot skin, starting to dampen with perspiration as both of their breath quickened. Troy found Chad's bellybutton, and trailed his fingers along the hair below, until he reached the barrier of his jeans.

He swiftly pulled the button open, unzipping as Chad's lips caressed his own. Troy was pleased to discover with his hands that Chad was just as excited as him. He started to kiss down Chad's chest, meeting the marks he'd made with his fingers moments before.

Troy's breath on his chest drove Chad wild and within seconds, jeans and boxers were flying around the room. Troy pushed Chad down onto the bed, getting on top of him, and pressing his chest against Chad's.

"I love you." He whispered breathlessly, before returning back to making his way down Chad's chest. Chad ushered his hands into Troy's hair, sharply taking in breath as he felt his mouth wrap around his manhood.

---------------------

Troy opened his eyes. Chad was still asleep. He glanced at the clock - 2.50pm. He'd completely forgotten it was the middle of the day - Saturday? He had to stop and think for a moment what day it was.

"Chad." Troy shook Chad gently. "Wake up."

"You… what? Wake up… go away."

"Chad!"

Chad groaned and opened his eyes.

"I'm sleepy."

"It's 3pm. I don't wanna sound like your Mom, but if you sleep too much now you won't sleep tonight. Now wake up."

Chad rolled his eyes and sat up slightly.

"Happy? What's the hurry anyway? I'm not even supposed to move in until Monday, and all my stuff is in your truck. And - in all fairness - it's probably all been stolen by poor desperate students by now."

"I covered it, genius. No one knows under that plastic sheet is a pile of cheap crap."

"Shut up." Chad laughed. "Well I think we successfully, uh… un-christened this room."

"Yeah." Troy smiled. "Some poor, unsuspecting, probably homophobic student will get this room, sleep on this bed, and have no idea what happened on it."

"I have an idea." Chad laughed, getting out of bed. He nodded at Troy to do the same. He pulled the bed slightly away from the wall, climbed back onto it, and got a pen from his bedside table. He started to scribble on the wall.

'Troy and Chad. Hot and heavy. 2010.'

"Chad!" Troy's eyes widened in horror. "You do remember that neither of us are publicly out?!"

"Troy, please." Chad rolled his eyes. "No one's gonna find this for at least… 2 years? When they will probably repaint it anyway."

Troy's face was frozen on his frowning expression, and he was staring at Chad.

"By the way, Chad…" He said quietly. "Are you planning anytime soon on telling your parents? You know, that you're gay and in love with your lifelong best friend and are moving in with him?"

"Um… no… do you want me to? And anyway, I'm not gay."

"Bi, whatever. Take your time, dude. But you really should think about it." Troy shrugged.

"You should know, Troy, that your parents told my parents that you're gay."

"Really?!" Troy exclaimed. "Well. That was out of order. What did they say?"

"Not much. They seem cool with it, really, but then again, you're not their son. Somehow, I think it would be different if they knew about me."

"When you choose to tell them, I'll be here for you." Troy smiled.

"I know." Chad smiled back. "Thanks."

Chad pushed the bed back against the wall, and threw himself down on it.

"Get up." Troy laughed. "Let's get some clothes on and go and grab a late lunch. I'm starving."

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A/N - I spent like a month working on this chapter, when I FINALLY finished it, excitedly went to upload it - FF went down! Typical. Reviews please :)


	28. AUTHOR UPDATE

Hey guys.

I'm probably not allowed to do this, but I just wanted to let you guys know I'm alive.

I have NOT forgotten this fic and I WILL update at sometime. I PROMISE. I will get this finished even if it kills me. LOL.

It will happen sometime, just make sure you have this story on alert. Okay? I'll try to get an update soon. J

Kk x


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